We were Soldiers: The Last Days
by xXChrisdabeastXx
Summary: Follow Connor Ramirez as he recounts he and his squads experiences as they fight through some of the last days of the Human-Covenant War. They will face challenges and problems never before seen. Rated T for language and violence. Chapter 5 is UP!
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: All right so I um… am starting a new story. Before you all flame me for having a few unfinished ones let me first bring up a very interesting point brought up by a reader of my fanfics. He said my Halo stories seem to always rotate around ODST's. I never really branch out from Helljumpers. I thought of that as a very good point so I decided that I will branch out with this story. But instead of doing something about marines, Helljumpers or Spartans, I decided I will take a crack at the UNSC Army. They are often over looked and I with so little information on them I felt I could sort of fill in my own void of things and it would really help with my creativity. I'm also going to be writing in the first person; which is new to me, although it will start off as third person. So yeah I don't own Halo that's Bungies stuff and without further ado I give you ****We Were Soldiers: The Last Days. **

**Prologue**

**0950 Hours, March 1****st****, 2571 (Military Calendar/**

**Earth, Sol System (Present Day)**

**Sunset Valley, Maryland**

Sunset Valley was a quaint little community within Maryland's Montgomery County. The houses were all almost identical save for color scheme. They all were two story houses with a garage thrown on the side As Paul Zimmerman drove his 55' Genet through the community he couldn't help but take in the beauty of it all.

"This is definitely where I want to live when I retire," Zimmerman said to himself. Sunset Valley wasn't necessarily a retirement community. Many veterans from the Human-Covenant war, or Great War as it was more commonly referred to as now, sought residence here after the war ended nineteen years ago.

The Great War had been a terrible thing. The Covenant, a technologically superior religious hegemony made up of many different species of aliens, had waged a genocidal campaign against humanity after contact had first been established on the Outer Colony world of Harvest.

For thirty years, thirty long years the Covenant had slowly been killing off millions upon billions of humans in what they referred to as a "cleansing of filth." Humanity was losing and losing bad. Humanities premier military, the United Nations Space Command or UNSC had valiantly defied the Covenant on multiple worlds. Usually they would actual have a pyrrhic victory against the alien, but the Covenant; with all their superior starships would simply fall back into orbit and use their energy projectors to "glass" the planet. Surfaces of entire worlds would literally melt into glass under the plasma.

So it had pretty much been like that for twenty eight years. With Humanity slowly falling back planet by planet and system by system. It wasn't until the twenty seventh year, in 2552 when the Covenant found humanities strongest military bastion of Reach did the Great War change hands. Who would have thought that it would take losing their strongest planet, next to Earth, for humanity to actually pull ahead? Well technically it wasn't the Battle of Reach itself, but the events that happened afterwards. The discovery of the Flood and the separation of the Covenant were huge helping hands. Anyways it was a long hard fought war and humanity only really one by luck.

Zimmerman drove his car down Moonview Drive turning onto Riverview Road after stopping at the stop sign. He looked out his car again, though this time he wasn't admiring the neighborhood. He had noticed that when he entered the community that every local resident outside would stop what they were doing and stare at his passing Genet. They all stared with blank stares. He guessed that the residents knew each other well and an outsider coming inside their neighborhood was odd. Frankly, Paul thought it was very unnerving to have all those eyes staring at him.

Paul slowed his car as he came to his destination. 14123 Riverview Road. The mailbox near the curb read _The Ramirez's._ "This looks like the place," he muttered to himself as he turned the car off. He gathered up his briefcase with all the things he would need and quickly checked himself in the rearview mirror. After that he opened his door and made his way up the walkway towards the home.

The home in question was similar to the others. Paul noticed that there was a nice four door SUV parked in the driveway. Near the garage door was a bicycle. "Guess they have a kid?" He made a mental note of that and proceeded to the big oaken door. He took a deep breath and rung the doorbell. The resulting ring sounded like two harps playing simultaneously.

He waited for about a good minute. No answer. He rang again. Same result. He swore under his breath and was about to turn back to his car, when the sound of the door unlocking was heard. He swiveled his head around as the door opened revealing a teenage boy. He looked around fourteen or fifthteen and had a slight tan tint to his skin. His hair was pitch black and slightly hung over his face in bangs.

"Can I help you?" the boy asked, looking Paul over. Paul flashed his pearly whites with a smile, "Why yes. Is this by any chances the Ramirez household?"

The boy raised an eyebrow, "That's what the mailbox says." _Smartass_, Paul thought to himself. "Haha true. Well is Connor Ramirez here? Sergeant Connor Ramirez?" The boy seemed to think it over for a little bit before answering, "Yeah he's home I'll go get him for you if you want. Wait here." The boy turned to leave, but Paul stopped him with a cough, "And who might I have the pleasure of speaking too?" Paul said gesturing to the boy.

The boy cracked a smile, "The names Christian Ramirez. Connor is my dad." Paul nodded, "The name is Paul Zimmerman, journalist and author." The boy looked as if he could give a rat's ass about who Paul was and turned and proceeded deeper into the house.

Paul heard, "Dad! Some guy named Paul Zipperman is here for you!" _Well at least he remembered my first name_, Paul thought. Shortly afterwards a deep voice responded, "Alright and did you brush your teeth?"

The boy answered with an exasperated, "Yes!" Paul stood there awkwardly waiting. He glanced down and noticed the welcome mat at his feet. The mat showed Earth in all its beauty surrounded by what appeared to be a fleet of UNSC Frigates and destroyers. He chuckled slightly to himself at the pun. He looked up and nearly jumped back in shock.

A man about 6'2 stood in front of him. He was of Hispanic descent evidenced by his tan skin. He was lean but he made up for it with a nice amount of muscle on him. He looked to be about in his forties and he was beginning to gray in certain parts of his black hair. He had a nice sized beard with equally graying effects. He wore a nice white t-shirt. The sleeves of the shirt stopped mid way down his bicep and it showed a tattoo with the name Army scrawled across it. He looked very intimidating and a slight frown was upon his face.

"Connor Ramirez?"

"Who wants to know?" the man said eyeing Paul much like the way his son did. Paul extended a hand and said, "Paul Zimmerman, I'm a journalist for the Washington Post and an up and coming author."

"That's…. good," Connor said gripping his hand firmly and shaking. Paul slightly grimaced at the vice like grip. Connor saw this and smiled, "You don't look like you are any threat Mr. Zimmerman. What can I do for you?"

Paul wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not but ignored the jibe getting straight to the point, "If you wouldn't mind I would like to interview you sir." Connor's eyebrow shot up at the statement, "Me? Why would anyone want to interview me?" Paul smiled, "You were part of the UNSC Military right?"

Connor seemed to get a sense of pride at that and stood up a little straighter, "Yessir. Part of the UNSC Army. 3rd Battalion, 69th Regiment, 327th Infantry Brigade. "Hell's Angels we were called back then." Paul smiled, he had Ramirez hooked, "Ah so I got the right person."

"You sure do," Connor said, he turned and gestured for Paul to follow, "Come with me we will do the interview in the dining room." Paul nodded picking up his briefcase and following the veteran trooper.

Inside his home, it was marvelous. He had many authentic rugs everywhere. Everything looked so clean and new. The pair walked by the living room, where Christian sat on the couch playing a shooting video game. Paul noticed this and whispered to Connor, "Apple doesn't fall far from the tree eh?"

Connor looked over and saw what he was talking about. He gave a hearty laugh, "Oh yes I feel that it doesn't. Though I don't know about him joining up when he is of age."

Paul shrugged, "I don't see the harm in it. We are in peacetime right now." Connor nodded but still didn't look convinced. They passed through the kitchen and into an elegant dining room. A table with a velvet table cloth was the most prominent thing here. Four chairs surrounded it on all sides. A silver chandelier hung above the table giving light to the dim room. On the wall next to the cabinet was probably the most eye catching thing in the room. A slightly aged looking m392 Designated Marksman Rifle or DMR as it was commonly abbreviated, sat upon two hooks that kept it in place.

"Very interesting…set up," Paul remarked towards the gun. Connor chuckled, "Yeah it is. Though my wife hates having it in the house. She says that it unsafe. Damn thing isn't even loaded."

"Wife?" Paul inquired. He mentally berated himself for the obvious question.

"Yeah my wife. How do you think I got a kid who looks like me? Fucked myself?"

A smile crossed Paul's face, "You never know. With all the technology we have now I don't doubt anything." Connor smiled at the jab, "I like you Zimmerman. You are a smart ass little son of a bitch, but I like you."

"Thanks… I guess," Paul muttered. Connor nodded and motioned for Paul to take a seat. Connor sat on one side of the table while Paul sat opposite of him. Connor intertwined his fingers, "So what questions do you have to ask me Zimmerman and might I ask why?"

Paul took a deep breath, "Well I'll answer your second question first. As I said I'm a journalist and an upcoming author." Connor nodded. "Well you see I'm about to start a book, entitled "We Were Soldiers". I t details the action that took place on Earth in the final battle of the Great War. I have been going around the country finding specific UNSC Military personnel to question about their experience throughout that battle."

Paul took another breath before continuing, "I have already interviewed a few people. I'm not sure if you know any of them. I got the accounts of Private First Class Alex Lombardi and his company of ODST's during the Battle of Manhattan. I also questioned a Private Chips Dubbo about his whereabouts during the Battle of New Mombassa in Kenya, Africa."

Connor shook his head, "None of those names ring a bell. But we Army don't usually mingle with the other branches of the UNSC unless it benefits us. And I don't know who told you this information but the Battle of Earth wasn't the last battle of the Great War. There was one more."

Paul became intrigued at the mention of that, "Hmm that's odd. Because I heard a similar thing from Dubbo. He mentioned something about "Installations", but wouldn't really say anything more.

Connor shook his head even more, "We were never supposed to talk about the installations. ONI went to great lengths to make sure we shut our mouths. Hell how do you think I got this house? On my Military income. Ha! That shit could probably only afford a 2 bedroom apartment at the most."

Paul unhinged his breath case revealing the contents inside. A bunch of paper, a few pens and a tape recorder. He reached in and took out the tape recorder placing it on the table. He pulled out a few sheets of paper and a pen. He looked up at Connor, "I know ONI wants it kept a secret and that's why Dubbo didn't tell me anymore about what happened after Earth, but I think the public deserves to know. It has been almost twenty years since the Great War, whatever secrets were being held back then probably don't matter as much now. Come on Connor we deserve too know what happened to you."

Connor sighed, "Ugh alright, I guess ONI can shove their little rules up their asses. Best get comfortable and make sure that tape recorder is on, I'm only going over this once. But before I tell you what happened on the Ark, let me start from that faithful day the Covenant decided to pay our home world a visit. Let me tell you about those last days."

**Author's Note:**** So that's the prologue of my new story. It will now follow Connor Ramirez and his squad as they fight through Earth and eventually onto the Ark. There is going to be some time continuity errors, but it's so I can make the story flow better in my eyes. Anyways read and review! And until next time **


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Now the story will take place back in the present time of the war when the Covenant first came to Earth. Although it will randomly jump back to Paul and Connor discussing certain things in his house. Alright I don't own this Bungie does so yeah.**

**Chapter One**

**1010 Hours, October 20, 2552 (Military Calendar/**

**Earth, Sol System (Present Day)**

**Camp Cole, Kenya, Africa**

My story really starts off in the East African Protectorate of Kenya. I was currently sitting in the office of Dr. Snyder. He was the bases psychiatrist. As I stared at a picture of the Doctor with his family at a beach I assumed was on Earth, I thought back about my family and life.

I was born on the Inner Colony planet of Precisian IV. It was a motley back water sort of planet. Its main enterprise was farming. And after Harvest got glassed in 2552, it took over as the main agricultural planet for the UNSC.

Being a farmer I learned many valuable things. But I think the most valuable thing I learned to do was shooting. I had to or the Artic wolves would come in during the winters and eat my families' livestock. My dad was a crack shot in his prime, but age got to him and he was less precise after a while. So it was up to me to defend the livestock and that I did.

I had enlisted right after high school. Literally the day after graduation a few friends and I rode up to the local recruitment center and enlisted. I was the only one that entered into the Army however, all my friends enlisted to the Marine Corp and they ridiculed me about to no end about it.

I don't know where they are this day. Probably dead on some colony world like Reach or Dracus V, where the Marine Corp really took a beating. The average life expectancy of a marine was a lot less then that of an Army Trooper.

I could say my parents were proud I enlisted, but that would be a complete lie. My mom was sad that I would be pursuing a military career. She had planned for me to go to college and earn a nice living. Something she said she hadn't been able to give me. This hit home on me and almost made me regret enlisting, but it was my dad who drove me away. He was furious. He had thought that I would take over the family farm when I was of age. That made me mad. I didn't want to be a farmer. Hell, at least my mother thought I could go to college.

But my father being the narcissistic alcoholic abusive asshole he was thought all I was good for was farm work. He had no faith in me joining up; said i was going to be killed right off the back. I told him off saying, "It was much better to go down fighting then it was to just sit here waiting for the Covenant to begin raining plasma on us." After that I left. I wished my mom a farewell and told her I would write to her as much as possible and up and left for boot camp.

Sadly three months later after basic I learned that the Covenant had paid Precisian IV a visit only two weeks after I left. It had been a massacre. The Covenant hadn't even landed troops. They simply glassed the planet from orbit and moved on. The UNSC hadn't even tried to defend the planet. I guess a back water planet with a population of 200,000 wasn't worth the risk of sending a defense fleet.

Anyways I was sitting in Snyder's humid office tapping my thumbs together waiting patiently for the therapist to come. The office was dimly lit because the blinds had been closed ever so slightly. I could see the dust particles floating in between the small amount of sunlight shining through. The incensive tick tock of the clock hung up on the wall was driving me crazy. It was literally to the point that I wanted to get up and rip the damn thing off the wall and smash it. I was actually about to act upon my thoughts, when the door suddenly opened.

A short slightly chubby man in a t-shirt and shorts strolled in. He had the rank of major on his military jacket. I rolled my eyes. That was nothing more then a formality. He, and a majority of the Medical Corps, was given high ranks so that most of his patients will be under his authority.

"Hot in here," he said turning on the fan on a nearby drawer, before taking his seat opposite of me. He leaned back in his chair putting his hands behind his head and his feet on the desk, "So Ramirez, what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you again?"

I mimicked his pose and replied coolly, "Oh you know. Lieutenant Martinez thought I was too pretty and sent me here to get your opinion on it." I mentally patted myself on the back for that one. Snyder knew damn well why I was here; Martinez obviously sent him a report on why he sent me here.

The psychiatrist got out of his relaxed state, leaning forward. He took on a more serious tone as he spoke, "That's not what I heard. I heard you were contemplating suicide." I smiled, "Oh that, yeah now that I think of it that is probably why I was sent here."

Snyder sighed, "Ramirez this isn't funny stuff. Soldiers like you are always losing it and many end up actually pulling the trigger. All I want to know is why you put a fully loaded Magnum to your temple and threatened to kill yourself?" I got out of my relaxed state as well, "You really want to know why?"

Snyder nodded.

"It is because I am bored," I admitted, "There's nothing at all too do on this damn base except sit around." It was true. The last time I had seen action with the Covenant was back on Sigma Octanus IV, and that was in July three months ago. Although "seeing: action with the Covenant was a sure way to bring your life expectancy to a halt, I really needed to do something. "And besides Doc, I was just playing around, the safety was on."

Snyder shook his head, "In Martinez's report he mentioned that a trooper, one PFC Dominique Cromartie said that you had mentioned killing yourself plenty of times too him. Enough to warrant cause for concern."

_Cromartie is a dead man,_ I thought to myself. "Man, that asshole I call my friend would say something like that just to stir up trouble for me and entertainment for himself."

"Ramirez can you tell me why I should let you back out there. And not put into a crazy house for your actions where you won't be a threat to yourself or others?" Snyder said with complete seriousness.

"Because if you do I'll give you a blowjob."

There was a good thirty seconds of awkward silence between us. All that was heard was the hum of the fan and the constant ticking of the wall clock. before Snyder sighed and pulled out a folder from his drawer. He opened it showing the report from Martinez on me. He pulled out a pen and wrote clear on one of the lines and then signed his name.

He pushed the paper over to me and indicated for me to sign under his name. I scrawled my name on the appropriate line and tossed him the pen.

"It's been nice seeing you Doc," I said giving him a fake salute, "I'll be sure to give you that blowjob sometime soon."

Snyder looked as if he was going to blow a gasket, "Ramirez, I don't ever want to see you in my office again. Because if I do I will be sure to have you put in an insane asylum and locked up for life."

I smiled, "Will do doc, will do." With that I turned on my heels and began to make my way out of his office but turned around at the last second, "And you really should think to upgrade to a digital clock. That one you have now is enough to make a sane man crazy."

As I stepped outside I was nearly blinded by the morning sunlight. My eyes quickly adjusted and I took in my surroundings.

Camp Cole; duly named after the late Admiral Preston Cole, Hero of the Battle of Harvest, was in full swing. Or as full swing as anything could get in times like these. I walked pass the motor pool. Lines and lines of M12 Warthogs, IAV Armadillo APC's and M810 Komodo Main Battle Tanks were parked waiting for use by the bases current occupants, the 69th Regiment of the 327th Infantry Brigade and the 15th Mechanized Brigade.

UNSC personnel were doing this and that. Today was just another day for us. Most of us had been on this base for a couple months now and it was excruciating. Now you can see why suicide was being contemplated, even though I was joking.

The first thing I did was light a cigarette with my Zippo lighter. I know people say the thing is bad for you and can cause lung cancer, frankly I don't care. With modern technology nowadays people can easily get a cloned lung if anything goes south. Smoking was becoming more popular now among soldiers. It was a great way to deal with the anxieties of battle.

I strolled over to the basketball courts. Basketball and Football were some of the only outlets of fun we had when on base. Of course when we were awarded leave we took complete advantage of it, but that was only every few weeks at least.

A bunch of Army troopers sat around lazily watching the game of a few troopers playing. I spotted the person I was looking for nearby sitting atop a box of crates looking at his cell phone. I walked over to him.

Private First Class Dominique Cromartie was my best friend. He and I had been in the same unit ever since he joined up a year and half ago. He was my longest surviving squad mate, besides Staff Sergeant Graves. Dom; as I referred to him was about as tall as me. His dark skin made him out to be black, but apparently he was more Caribbean. He had a good sense of humor but was the squads' resident jackass. Though he was a good soldier and always had your back.

As I walked up to him, he looked up and gave me the goofiest grin ever, "Ah Connor I see the Doctor let you out."

"Fuck you," I said giving him a swift punch to the gut. Not one other person noticed as Cromartie grunted and held his stomach. It was one of my specialties that I could hit someone ever so slightly, but make it still hurt.

"So you figured out about my little report to Martinez," he said straightening up ever slowly; he still had a grin on his face. I glared at him, "Yeah asshole, way to get me in a lot of trouble that could've been avoided."

"I'm sorry Connor my man, but you were talking about dying all those times," He said faking innocence. I flipped him the bird, "Yeah dying of boredom." Dominique smiled at me, "Oh well at least I wasn't bored for a little bit." He got up off the crate and began walking away signaling to for me to follow, "Come on we got to finish that last game of ninety nine we were playing."

All hate towards my best friend quickly vanished when he mentioned our game of ninety nine, "Oh yeah, I was winning that shit before."

We made our way through Camp Cole. I exhaled another puff of smoke from the cigarette in my mouth. Dominique noticed this, "Yo, light me up." He pulled out a pack of cigarettes of his own. I pulled out my Zippo and lit it for him. We continued on through the base smoking and talking about my discussion with Doc Snyder.

"You will give him a blowjob?" Dom said wearily, giving me a side glance.

I chuckled, "I wasn't serious Dommy."

"I know, but still. Its stuff like that that makes me consider your sexuality." I couldn't help but smile at that, "You know I am all for the pussy."

Dom made a sighing noise, "Yeah all too well. Speaking of pussy when are you going to get around to talking to Michelle? I know you have the hots for her." I shook my head, "In my own time Dommy boy, in my own time."

We finally made it to our barrack. Row 4 building 6. The small rectangular building had served as my sleeping quarters for the greater part of two months. I opened the door letting Dom go in before me. I closed the door and took in the scene before me.

On the floor doing pushups was PFC Johnny Knox. Knox was a twenty two year old self proclaimed badass. He always bragged about how he would waste an Elite in hand to hand combat. Dom had actually dared him once, on Sigma Octanus IV, to take on an Elite Major Domo that was challenging gone of the squad to face him in unarmed combat. Of course Knox didn't and we ended up simply hosing the elite down with our weapons. After that Knox's reputation went down a bit with us, but he still had his moments. And he was as reliable as any brother in arms would.

"Knox, stop humping the floor and lets continue our ninety nine game," I said slightly kicking him in the leg. He hopped right up; pushing back his close cropped blonde hair, "Damn okay, but I was like on two hundred fifty."

I shared a quick glance with Dominique before turning to Knox, "Sure Knox," I turned to the other members of our squad, "Cho get over here and bring the crate."

Specialist Aaron Cho was the squads' radio specialist. He had been through three years of college; the farthest any of us had gotten in education. He had earned the rank of Specialist upon entering the Army and had been given a radio. But between you and me, I think he wasn't cut out for war. I had only seen him in action once on Sigma Octanus IV and I didn't like what I saw. He was slow on the radio calls and he had a habit of breaking under pressure.

Cho kicked over the stolen ammunition crate we had and placed it in between the cots. We pulled the beds closer so that we could each have sitting positions.

I looked over at the last member inside the bunker. She was sleeping on a cot in the far corner. Private First Class Michelle Calkins was the newest member of the squad. She had been transferred to our unit after her unit got mulched on Reach.

Reach was a terrible battle. Millions lost holding an indefensible planet. The Covenant came in and destroyed the UNSC second strongest planet. Although they paid for every inch they took. We lost a lot of brave souls on Reach and they will all be remembered for their bravery.

Luckily my unit had avoided the massacre, because we had been stationed on the planet Hebron, during the siege of Reach. After that we had been rotated back to Earth as part of the Home Defense Guard.

Michelle was pretty. There was no denying that. She was one of the prettiest girls I had ever seen. With her blonde hair, hazel eyes and hourglass figure, she looked like something you would see in a fashion magazine. Girls like that just don't drop into the Army for no reason, but trying to get her to spill the beans on her life was near impossible.

It was like this for many members of the military who came from annihilated or near annihilated units. When they got to their new unit they would shut themselves away from everyone else and not get to really know anyone. I guess it was the feeling that if they got to know another unit then they would suffer just as much if they lost them. I really just thought it was an extreme form of survivors' guilt. She would eventually talk in her own time.

Knox caught me looking over at her, "She's been asleep ever since this morning, she didn't even have breakfast."

"I'm awake," Michelle said suddenly, without moving. This had surprised us. She hadn't talked much in the two weeks she had been here. She only really only answered yes and no to us and never made conversation. The fact she had even said a complete two words to us was a huge milestone.

"You want to join us for our game?" I asked timidly like I was a school boy talking to a girl for the first time. Knox and Dom shared a glance smiling devilishly at each other. Michelle turned in her cot and propped herself up on her elbow, "What game?"

"Ninety nine"

She seemed to think it over, "I'm not too sure how to play, but I'll watch and learn." That was good enough for me. I began to deal out the cards as she walked over.

"Alright," I said, "Each person gets three cards. They place their card of their choosing into the middle and then draw a card. If the card is a 5 or an 8 then the rotation is reversed and it goes back to the previous person. If you get a 10 you have the option to raise or lower the count by ten. The first one to get a perfect amount of ninety nine wins. Got it?"

Michelle nodded, "Yeah but I'll still watch the first few rounds."

I nodded and our game began in earnest. The first round actually got hectic as I came close to winning putting down a 5 to make it ninety three, but Dom being the ever loving douche he is had to have a four waiting the next turn and one the pot. The pot being a pack of cigarettes. These things were our only real stake at money right now. All our pension checks for being in the military go directly to our bank accounts so we don't really get any hard cash, unless we are about to go on leave, then we get a few dollars for beer and if you can find one, a cheap hooker.

"You are lucky black boy," Knox said eyeing Dominique as he took in the pot. Dom eyed him, "I told you I'm Caribbean." I could tell Dom was getting angry and Knox never knew when to quit, so intervened with a question of my own, "Where's Graves?"

It was Cho who answered, "He and the other NCOs and officers got called away to some debriefing with Colonel Sharper." I raised an eyebrow at that, "Colonel Sharper you say, must be something big going down if the entire leadership of the regiment is being called together."

Cho shrugged. I finished dealing out the next round of cards and this time Michelle joined in. This game lasted a good ten minutes before I came away with the W. "Damn you're lucky you're a crack shot with that DMR of yours Ramirez or I would've socked you by now."

I rolled my eyes at the younger man, but he had a point. I was a pretty damn good shot. Years of hunting Artic Wolves on Precisian V had made me a crack shot. That is why I was designated the squads sharpshooter. With my eyes and aim I could shoot the wings off a butterfly at 200 yards.

I was about to deal out the next hand of cards when the barrack room doors swung open. Standing in the frame of the door was Staff Sergeant Graves. Graves was of Caucasian descent. He had grown up on the world Harvest before it was glassed by the Covenant in 2525. He had only been six at the time, but he still remembered being huddled onto that cargo elevator and watching as a single Covenant cruiser glassed his home. He vowed revenge for that and joined up in the Army as soon as he was of age.

"Morning Staff Sergeant," Dom said, gesturing to the cot next to him, "Take a seat and join in." Graves had a look upon his face of seriousness. Now Graves was usually a pretty laid backed guy on leave and during downtime like this, but once shit hit the fan that relaxed calm guy became a serious shouting drill sergeant type of guy.

And right now he was being the drill sergeant type of guy, "Games over lady and gentlemen. Pick yourselves up off your asses and get suited up." _Suited up, _that struck me as odd. That's when I noticed that Graves was already in full combat gear, complete even with his preferred weapon, the M45 Tactical Shotgun.

"What is going on Sarge?" Knox inquired getting up and pushing his cot back into place, "We going out for a training exercise?" Graves seemed to think over his next words carefully, "There is no easy way of saying this so I'll just say it. The Covenant are on Earth."

There was a silence that developed the room. One could have heard a pin drop on the floor. It was Dom who spoke next, "What's the situation?"

"A fleet of 15 Covenant ships jumped in orbit near Earth only a couple hours ago. Our fleet got the jump on them, but one of the Assault Carriers slipped through and has currently taken position over the Tether City of New Mombassa," Graves explained. He took a deep breath before continuing, "The ship is currently deploying thousands of troops into the city. Colonial Militia and Marine defense forces are engaging them as we speak."

That wasn't good. New Mombassa was only like 15 kilometers away from Camp Cole. Any conflict there and we were bound to be drawn into it.

"What's our mission?" I inquired, impatiently waiting.

Graves looked me over, "Lieutenant Martinez will inform us and the rest of 1st platoon in hangar B at 1100 hours, so hurry up and get suited up and be ready by then."

It was silent as everyone suited up in their BDUs, which consisted of olive-drab fatigues, with brown-gray armor plating covering it. The main components of the armor include an armored vest, a helmet and large shoulder pauldrons. The chest armor also has an extension to provide protection to the groin. The shins are not armored like in the Marine BDU, with only dust-gray combat boots and black kneepads on the lower leg. The thighs have attachment rigs for equipment much like in the other versions. On the waist is a utility belt used for storing equipment. My armor was battered and bruised in certain places but I liked it. It reminded me I was alive and they sort of made me look cool to the newer guys.

I placed my helmet on my head. I quickly activated my HUD to make sure everything was good. Then I linked up the CNM or Command Network Module. The external attachment to our helmets was our way of communicating with one another. It also had our friend/foe identifier. It pretty much was the Armies version of the Helljumpers VISR attachment.

I removed my helmet from my head and reached into my locker and withdrew my final thing, my DMR. The M392 designated Marksman Rifle was my weapon of choice. Being the squads' sharpshooter I had been assigned the air cooled, magazine-fed, gas-operated select-fire bull pup rifle. This baby had saved my life more times then I could count. I kept her clean at all times and she never jammed.

I gave my baby one quick kiss, it was sort of a ritual I did every time I got it out of storage. I hoped no one would see. However one person did see and it was the last person I wanted too.

"You kiss your weapons a lot?" Michelle asked. She had her helmet on already. Her blonde bangs were slightly poking out from beneath her helmet. The Army was lenient on its hair regulations. Her eyes were covered by the clear ballistic goggles. She had a small grin on her face.

"I ….uh you see," I blabbed out. I must have been red as an apple. "Ramirez, Calkins! You two stop flirting and get your asses in line to fall out," Graves shouted from the front of the barrack. _Saved by the Sarge_.

I placed my helmet on my head, grabbed my M6G sidearm (The same one I used to when I faked suicide) and fell in with the rest of the squad. Dom held his M319 IGL to his chest like he was carrying a baby. Twin belts of grenade ammunition were strapped across his chest armor in a X. On his back was his secondary weapon, a MA37 ICWS Assault Rifle. The weapon carried a lot of stopping power, but lacked the range.

Besides Sergeant Graves, Dominique, and I everyone else in the squad carried the basic kit for an Army trooper. A MA37 Assault rifle with an M6G pistol and a handful of grenades.

Sergeant Graves began distributing the ammo out for our rifles. The ammo was kept in a foot locker at the front of the barrack that only Graves had the key to open. I guess the higher ups didn't trust us. But after that little stunt I pulled earlier, I wouldn't think they would trust us.

The DMR and MA37 both supported the same 7.25x51mm ammunition. So it was easy to give everyone a few clips and call it a day. I hooked the clippings to my webbing on my armor and placed a few grenades in my rucksack. After that I quickly fell in step with the others and headed out.

Right before stepping out, I turned around and gave one last look at the barrack room. This had been my home for two months and I wondered if I would ever see it again. I shook my head. Now was not the time to be thinking in such a way. There were covenant to kill.

As we made our way outside the barracks we fell in line with other squads from our platoon. There was a lot of talk as we made our way across the base to the hangars. Camp Cole was no longer the boring drawn out place I had seen an hour ago. Word of the Covenant invasion spread fast and everyone was hustling to get ready. Warthogs were being armed and getting last minute checks before they would disembark for battle. M810s were rolling out of the base. They sounded like a stampede as they disembarked.

Some of the tanks were being loaded into C107 Heavy Transport vehicles. These were like giant cargo planes that were used to transport heavy machines like tanks and Armadillos if need be. Hell they could transport over an entire company of soldiers if need be.

Lines of pelicans waited out on the airfield. They were being feuled up and fitted with rockets.

We arrived at Hangar B along with the rest of 1st platoon. Lieutenant Martinez stood at the head of our motley group of thirty. "Well ladies and gentlemen," Martinez said with a slight Spanish accent, "Shit has hit the fan. The Covies are on Earth and to be more specific they are really hitting New Mombassa."

"We will be transported to a forward rallying point outside of the city by pelican," he explained, "From there we will be transported into the Old Mombassa by Armadillo. Civilians are still trying to evacuate. We have to set up a defensive line. Our sister companies not to mention our sister battalions are already on the scene. We will be the last as we are 3rd Battalion."

So the whole 69th Regiment was being used. That means shit must really be getting heavy over in Mombassa. This was going to be one helluva fight.

"How come we don't simply fly into the city? It'll be a lot faster then changing over to Armadillos," a young private asked. Martinez gave him a stare and said, "Because the Covies have a hell of a lot of AA emplacements all over Old Mombassa. We would be shot down before we even get to the line."

The private shut up realizing his foolish question. Martinez looked around, "Anymore questions? Good now Darwin's theory was that only the strongest survive. Now I know you guys know the Covenant are stronger then us. So how's about we go prove Darwin wrong and go kick some Covenant ass!"

A chorus of, "Hoo-ah!" Went up from the gathered crowd. We were getting pumped; we would need to so as to fight the Covenant.

"You are dismissed. And god be with you all of you," Those were Martinez's words of inspiration. I was atheist. I didn't believe in a god. If there really was a god then he would have helped us defeat the Covenant a long time ago. No we are on our own with that one.

We made our way out onto the airfield. The lines of Pelicans that had been getting fueled up were now sitting there waiting for our arrival. As one our company moved out to out designated pelicans. It was a marvelous thing to see the might of the UNSC in action.

2nd Squad, my squad, went onto the third pelican in. we were joined by 3rd squad led by Sergeant McAllister. Graves gave him a curt nod as he and his men embarked. "Looks like we are going straight into the suck again, eh Joseph?" McAllister said returning the nod.

Graves nodded, "Yup, but it's about time the Covies found Earth. I was wondering what was taking the bastards so long."

What Graves said got me thinking. Did High Command know of an imminent Covenant attack on Earth? Was that why we had been rotated back to the home planet? As I asked myself these questions I slowly realized that we were ascending. I rested my head back against the seat. Well rested was an overstatement. These dropships were never really made for comfort. They were just to get you from point A to point B without being blown up.

The midday sun peeked into the blood tray reflecting off many of our armor pieces and sort of creating a light show for us. I smiled, that smile quickly turned into a frown when I realized we had a long day ahead of us.


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own this Bungie does so yeah…**

**Chapter Two**

**1250 Hours, October 20, 2552 (Military Calendar/**

**Earth, Sol System (Present Day)**

**En route to New Mombasa **

We were getting restless to say the least. These Pelican Dropships were like flying tubs, they were so uncomfortable. Below us was the infamous African Savannah. It was just grass, dirt and more grass. Since we had taken off I had only seen two watering holes. Crowds of animals would usually be crowding around it to get a drink, but not one body was around it. Covenant must be scaring them off.

I peered over the edge one last time and actually saw a herd of Warthogs stampeding through the flatlands. I held up my DMR and remarked to Dom and Michelle, "Hey you guys in the mood for lunch?" That got a hearty laugh from Dom and a chuckle from Michelle. I was really getting to her. Before today she wouldn't even have batted an eye my way, now we were having full conversations and laughing together. If we both survived this conflict I will totally be getting at that.

Our flight group consisted of around a dozen Pelicans. Six UH-144 Falcons were providing cover for the group, flying around the perimeter to keep off enemy assailants.

"So what do you think the Covenant want in New Mombassa?" Knox inquired to the group of twelve Army Troopers present. There was a lot of shoulder shrugging.

"Why do you think?" Private Respin, a member of 3rd squad, said, "They're the Covenant. They do things of the sort like that. You know come to one of our planets and ravage it."

Knox stared the man down. Despite him wearing a helmet and ballistic goggles I could tell he was frowning at the man, "Well you know what smartass, you can go fu…"

The Pelican suddenly swerved back and forth and then dipped a little. "Holy shit!" cried Cho, "Are we under attack?" The pilot in the cockpit came over the COM, _"Sorry about that troopers. We just had to avoid a huge flock of birds' flock of birds making a beeline from the city."_

I was the closest to the open hatch. I stared out and was surprised to see the indicated flock of birds flying from the city. Flock was more of an understatement; this was _bigger _than a flock. It was more like a cloud. For a good ten seconds the sun was blocked out and the cawing of birds of many different kinds drowned out the sounds of the Pelican engines.

"Well you know what they say?" Dom said with a smirk, "Birds of a different feather flock together." Michelle gave him a pitied look, "that's not the saying genius." Dom was about to reply with something foul, but I cut him off before he could get any farther, "I think they were running."

Michelle eyed me, "From what, Mombasa?" As if to answer her question a green plasma bolt flew pass the open troop bay. "Oh damn! We got flack!" McAllister yelled. The pelican began to buckle back and forth as did all the other vehicles within our group. We gripped the sides of our seats for dear life as the Covenants AA weapons (More likely Shades) unleashed their fury onto us.

The Falcon flying CAP behind us suddenly went up in flames and plummeted to the Earth below. Cho let out a yelp of surprise and I noticed a wet stain appear on his pant legs. I looked away too embarrassed to mention anything.

We finally made it through that hell. We had lost one Pelican and three Falcons. Those were serious loses. In that Pelican alone was two squads worth of soldiers. The pilot guided us down towards the ground. As we got closer I could see other Pelicans and vehicles of all types were landing and parking. Hundreds of troopers were all over the place disembarking and embarking upon these vehicles. This must've been the assembly area.

Our Pelican touched down and Graves barked at us to "Get our asses of this tub!" We instantly complied. I leapt off of the blood tray and was almost blinded by the midday sun. It was times like this that I wish we had those sunglasses the Marine Corp got. Instead we were just given ballistic goggles. Then again on the scale of importance the Army was on the bottom tier. The Marines usually got more then us since there were a helluva lot more of them then us and the fact they were used as an offensive force, while us Army were boys were usually garrisoned on a planet and told to defend it.

No matter though we were all in the fight for our lives now that Earth was under attack. If it fell then I don't know what humanity would do. I mean of course we had other colonies that hadn't been glassed but without the home world Earth it was only a matter of time before we were all but exterminated.

Ten other Pelicans had made landfall nearby. Once their sticks of marines disembarked, they were almost manhandled by medics trying to get wounded on board. "Poor SOBs," Knox barely made audible.

"You mean the wounded or the pilots?" I inquired unsure of who he was indicating. He shook his head, "Doesn't matter."

"Alright Golf Company!" Captain Mactavish, our company CO shouted over the din from the front of the 120 so Army troopers, "get your arses onto the Armadillos."

We all started making our way over to the awaiting group of APC's. Michelle walked up to me and said really quietly, "So how do you guy's feel about Captain Mactavish?"

"He's a pretty competent commander as they come," I claimed, "He never really has led us in the wrong direction yet, so he's as good as they come." It's true. Captain Mactavish was a very good commander. Back on Sigma Octanus IV, then Lieutenant Mactavish led the Company in the defense of the Southern Cote d'Azure line. We had been getting mulched for over thirteen hours. We had already lost Captain Winterfeed to a plasma bombardment and most of our platoon commanders. Mactavish stepped up and took command of the company and got us through that hell. After that it was a unanimous choice at who our Company Commander should be.

A shadow passed overhead and I looked up just in time to see two F/A-99 "Seahawk" Strike Fighters streak by overhead. The forward swept wing Jet was the UNSC Armies primary in orbit jet fighter capable of taking on ground and air assailants.

I followed the twin jets flight path until my eyes came upon a horrific sight. New Mombasa was burning. Plasma flak and other AA fire were ascending into the sky like a fireworks display. Dozens of dots were prominent over the city. Probably Banshees and UNSC aircraft dueling it out.

The most dominant thing in the sky was the large Covenant Assault Carrier hovering over the city. Its shape and design gave it the look of a grotesque bulbous whale. A few other troopers turned around to see what I was staring at, and when they did there was a multitude of gasp.

Dom walked up next to me, "Come on, lets go get them." I nodded and followed my friend to the APC my squad was heading to.

We embarked onto the APC's. Once again my squad was riding alongside 3rd squad. It was like we were conjoined at the hip, but I could care less. The loading ramps closed. It was pitch black for a moment before the emergency lights flickered on and bathed everyone in a hellish red glow.

The Armadillos started up and our convoy was underway. Also present were a few Komodo Battle Tanks and Falcons flying cover over the convoy.

We turned onto Coastal Highway and began to gun it down the road at nearly a hundred miles an hour. The ride in the back of the APC was a bumpy one. Everyone was getting rattled around. More then once we would hit a bump and someone would bounce up and hit their head on the ceiling of the vehicle.

"Man fuck this," a private from third squad swore, "I'm going to get a fucking concussion from riding in these things."

"They really should have seatbelts," I joked. That got a couple chuckles here and there. We basically rode in silence. We had no way to see what was happening outside. The only way we had _any_ contact with the outside world was through the drivers radio, which broadcasted through our CNM.

We heard about how bad shit was really hitting the fan in New Mombasa. Units were claiming Broken Arrow formations all over the city. NMPD was trying its best to get everyone out, but it wasn't working to well. I even heard someone mention that the Master Chief himself, Spartan-117, was coming down with the UNSC Frigate _In Amber Clad_, commanded by Lt. Commander Miranda Keyes. If the Master Chief was entering the fray then shit must really hitting the fan.

We began to reach the outskirts of Old Mombassa. Old Mombasa surrounded Mombassa Island, which houses New Mombassa. I should have been a little bit more descriptive in my narrative. You see Mombasa was a really old city dating back to before the 21st Century. When flooding from rising sea levels was a problem back in the late 21st Century Mombasa was forced to create seawalls and expand to avoid drowning. Port Cities, in which Mombasa was one of, began to prosper as people needed supplies from them. This worked out but soon interstellar travel was discovered and ports on Earth weren't needed as much. Soon Mombasa became nothing but a shantytown. Though it was chosen to be Earth's first tether city, and the island of New Mombasa was built up to support the new Orbital Elevator that was being built within.

New Mombasa took over as the primary source of income within the area and the surrounding town, now referred to as Old Mombasa was seen as nothing but a ghetto.

Old Mombasa now was an odd combination of old and new. With 16th Century Muslim arcades, aging 21st century office buildings, and looming 26th century couplings. Old concrete buildings with computerized locks. This place was ghetto but it was probably the most advanced ghetto on Earth.

Despite the bumpy ride I had actually fallen slightly into a slumber. I was awakened, however, by the sounds of the Armadillos computerized 40mm Gatling Gun going off. Inside the APC it sounded like a cannon shot.

"Driver what is going on?" Graves shouted to the driver in the front compartment. The driver yelled back over the CNM, _"Grunt suicide squadrons are coming out of the woodwork now. If one of those puppies detonated their shit under my vehicle then we will probably go up in flames."_

_That's just great,_ I thought to myself. Armadillos may as well have been called a up armored tub then an Armored personnel carrier. These things were vulnerable to practically everything. That's why a convoy of them needed so much goddamn cover.

Our APC zipped down the roads, avoiding grunts suicides and pot holes, some of which must have been craters. Our convoy finally came to a stop. The loading ramps opened exposing us to the harsh sunlight. Graves and McAllister barked at us to disembark.

Outside was absolute chaos. Army troopers of the 69th regiment. Our sister companies and battalions were spread out along a three mile long line known as Red Line. This line spread from Grid Kilo 23 to as far as Prostrate Avenue. We were to hold this line in order to allow civilians within the city who haven't been able to escape yet a safe passage out of the city. There must've still been a helluva lot of civvies still within the city, evidenced by the long line of civilians I could see retreating behind our lines as I spoke. We had quite a few Komodo and Armadillos lined up with us as well. Army mortar teams were firing off rounds into the city hoping to hit targets.

My company was ordered by Colonel Sharper, our Battalion Commander, to move to defenses positions next to India Company, who were defending the entrances and exits to a nearby bazaar.

The 120 something men in my Company and I made our way down the avenues pass countless troopers hunkered behind and in anything they could find. Cars, buildings, benches, and recently constructed sandbag bunkers.

As we entered the bazaar we saw the members of India and Hotel Companies all over the place. We took our place at a few of the entrances located around the market place. I had just hunkered down under a nice gazebo type building with my squad when Lieutenant Martinez and a young private holding what appeared to be a small board came over.

"Graves I need you and your 2nd squad for an assignment," Martinez said taking a seat next to my Sergeant. I noticed the private set down the board and I instantly recognized it as a holo pad.

Martinez activated the pad and a small 3-D holographic representative image of Mombasa city appeared. It zoomed in until it only showed a small part of Old Mombasa. He pointed to a highlighted section that showed green dots all over a large area, "This is us."

He pointed to another part that was a few blocks away, though on the holo pad it was only a half foot away. The area he pointed at lit up green but had a red cross over it, "This is where you guys are heading."

"What is it sir?" Graves inquired.

"We have a Pelican down. A marauding scarab nicked the poor SOB's when they came within the city from the _In Amber Clad."_ I raised an eyebrow to that one. "One of the Pelicans went down in a courtyard within Sector 0-5. We haven't heard from anyone from the crash site so we are assuming the worst."

"Damn," Dom muttered under his breath. "That Pelican was carrying the Master Chief," Martinez continued. There was a moment as everyone let that sink in. Everyone knew of Spartan-117 or the Chief as he was referred too. He was the Hero of Humanity. Since the beginning of this war he and his Spartan II brothers and sisters wasted the Covenant in every engagement they were in. The stories of their missions and what they did was almost unthinkable and seemed impossible. Those Spartans had a legendary status among the UNSC, but after almost thirty years of fighting I heard that there numbers were drastically down. I heard that the Master Chief was the only Spartan left after the disaster that was Reach. This was not a morale boost. Without the Spartans, there was practically no way that we will win this war.

"The Chief just came from Cairo Station over Egypt," Martinez explained, "He saved the station from an anti matter bomb and blew up one of the Covenant Carriers in orbit with said bomb."

"Haha Fuck yeah! The Master Chief is a fucking animal," Knox jubilantly explained. I couldn't help but agree with him. To pull shit off like that it took a lot of skill but it also took a lot of balls.

"Ho-ah," Martinez nodded, "Now if the whether the Chief survived that crash or not we need to get his body back. It is the least we can do for him after he has done so much for us." Martinez said the last part with a slight somber tone.

"Yes it is El-tee," Graves said getting up from his crouched position, "We will get to the crash site and extract the Chief and all personnel from the Pelican." Martinez smiled and nodded, "Right 3rd squad will be accompanying you."

_Conjoined at the hip_

"And be careful. Sector 0-5 is crawling with Covenant and that Scarab is still roaming around over there. I'm glad it or much of the covenant has turned their attention to us yet."

As if hearing the lieutenants' words, gunfire erupted on the far side of the bazaar. This was met by plasma fire and the screams and shouts of battle. "Spoke to soon," Martinez said grabbing his MA37 and heading off in the direction of battle, the private right behind him with an assault rifle of his own at the ready.

Before going Martinez turned around and said, "Be fast and god be with you." With that he turned back and headed off in the direction of battle.

We were silent and speechless not sure if we will see Martinez again. It was Sergeant Graves who snapped us out of it, "Come on get your asses moving. Let's not let the El-tee down."

It was fifteen minutes later that we were heading down an abandoned street. There were derelict cars everywhere. The shops were completely abandoned as they were when people up and left. It was eerie. Many of the cars were still running as we passed them. The bodies were also prominent. Here and there we would see the dead body of a civilian who hadn't been able to get out fast enough. It was sad to see that they had no way of fighting back at all.

Dom came up next to me, "If there are dead civvies here that must mean that the Covenant are in the area, right" Graves overheard us, "Damn right it means they are in the area. So cut the chatter and stay frosty Ho-ah."

"Ho-ah," Me and Dom responded simultaneously.

We proceeded down the narrow avenue towards the crash site a mile away. Are target was marked by a blue arrow waypoint that was marked on our HUD. My squad was on the right side of the road and 3rd squad was moving the left. We were not going to get caught out in the open.

We had an addition to our squad. Sergeant Danny Moreno was accompanying us. He was a platoon medic that Lieutenant Martinez had lent us for our little excursion into the city. He was very capable as a medic. Hell he patched me up well enough once on Sigma Octanus IV that I was able to keep defending the trench line we were holding down.

We walked with our weapons raised and pointing in every direction. I was getting jittery. Don't ask me how but I felt like something big was about to happen. We moved down the side walk and in between cars. We were all spread out as we proceeded.

Suddenly Graves, who was on point signaled for us to halt and get down. We all crouched down and waited. "Sir what is it?" Cho whispered.

Graves answered without turning around, "One of McAllister's boys has contact up ahead." The hair on my neck went up with that one. I glanced over and saw the same Private that Knox got into an argument with on the Pelican, Private Respin, moved forward into the street. He crouched down behind a car and raised his weapon.

That's when I heard something knock trashcans over. Something was coming. It was dead silent as we waited. Respin's hand was visibly shaking the MA37 he was holding. We waited for an antagonizing twenty more seconds. Then suddenly Respin blew a sigh of relief. He stood up and smiled.

I was about to shout at him to get down, when I saw what had made the entire ruckus. It was a dog. A German Shepard to be exact. It looked as if it was owned by someone; the collar around its neck was testament to that.

Respin knelt down and patted the dog, which came up to him and licked the unprotected part of his face. Respin stood back up and turned to us, "It is okay guys it is just a do…"

A basketball sized plasma bolt suddenly slammed into his back. Respin grunted as the shot threw him forward onto the ground. The dog sprinted away whimpering.

"Ambush!" someone shouted. That is when the plasma really started flying.

Two 3rd squad members grabbed a still thrashing Respin and pulled him to the safety of a nearby car. I sighted through my DMRs optic scope, down the street. I saw a squad of six grunts being led by an Elite Major. Majors were the equivalent of a UNSC Sergeant or Lieutenant.

I popped off a few rounds catching the Elite in the head but it didn't phase it due to the split lip aliens energy shielding. I turned my attention to the grunts and popped two of them with clean head shots. The squat little aliens flipped over dead as a door nail.

"Contact 3 o'clock, on the rooftops!" Dom shouted firing his MA37 wildly onto the roof of a nearby building. Pieces of brick fell as his bullets slammed into them. I ducked down next to a car as plasma started to fly into my direction. All around everyone was acquiring and firing on targets. I wasn't sure if any one was hit or not. We were to out in the open we needed to move.

A plasma bolt slammed into the front passenger window of the car I was taking cover behind, another soon followed through the back window showering me with glass. I got up and sighted on a nearby building. I got up just in time to spot an Elite armed with a carbine take cover.

"Fall back! Fall Back!" Someone shouted over the din.

"Where too?" someone chimed in, "We are surrounded!"

It was Staff Sergeant Graves who came up with an answer. "Fall back through that alleyway!" he shouted as he pointed to an alley on the left side of the street. Both squads' began to file through the alleyway. Staff Sergeant Graves led the way with his M45 raised.

I was in the middle of the group. I could hear my own heart beating within my chest. As we passed an intercepting alleyway, plasma began to fly out from it into our group of thirteen. Miraculously no one was hit by it. Graves did a 45 degree pivot and fired twice from his shotgun. He did this all without stopping to aim. As I passed by the other alley I saw a pair of Jackals with their forearm energy shields raised. One was already dead on the floor lying in a pool of its own purple blood.

A plasma bolt whizzed past Michelle's head, singing part of her hair. I glanced up and saw that a few Elites were following our progression from atop the rooftops. "They're up above!" I shouted as I fired off a few rounds to keep them away from the edge.

"Keep moving!" This was from McAllister.

"I got to stop sir," this was from Respin. He was being helped along by Doc Moreno. When that charged up plasma pistol shot had hit his back it had melted through most of his armor and through his clothing to reach his skin. He had reddish blisters on his back and it was red as an apple back there.

"We have to stop soon, Sergeants" Doc said, "He has a second degree burn that needs immediate treating."

Graves and McAllister nodded to one another.

We made it out of the alley and quickly moved across the street to what appeared to be a small motel. We came to the mangers office. It was a sizeable building, about the width and length of two normal size master bedrooms.

Graves pumped his shotgun and fired into the doors handle, blowing a hole where it normally would be. With a forceful kick he sent the door inward still on its hinges. We all piled in making sure there was no Covenant around before we did.

The place was small and quaint; this must've been the previous owners living quarters as well as office. A desk with a couple bookshelves sat at one end of the office. A couch and TV plus nightstand were towards the middle area. I walked over to the desk and spotted a picture of the previous owner. He was in his mid thirties. This picture was of him and two equally aged friends at the beach. Since there were no pictures of family I assumed he didn't have any currently. I felt a pang of sorrow for him. A picture could tell a thousand words and this one told many. I wondered where the owner was, then I realized he was either dead or on one of the many transports out of the city. It was a half and half chance for either.

Doc Moreno placed Respin gently on the floor. He was placed on his stomach and the Doc hurriedly cleaned the wound with a wet towel before he withdrew a bottle of bio foam. Bio foam was self-sealing, space-filling coagulant and an antibacterial, tissue-regenerative foam polymer used by the United Nations Space Command as a form of medical first aid. This foam keeps damaged organs in place and helps stop bleeding and hemorrhaging from: Laceration, Abrasion, contusion, Puncture, thermal and electric burn wounds.

Moreno sprayed some on Respins back. The private flinched a little bit before relaxing. The spray spread out over the wound and provided enough relief for him. Moreno stood up and turned to McAllister, "That hold him long enough, but he is going to have to see a Field Doctor soon enough."

McAllister nodded, "We will get to the crash site first then we will see about getting him to a Field hospital, that okay with you Respin?" The young private made a thumbs up sign. Moreno looked around, "Anyone else got any wounds?"

A few people put there hands up, including Knox, who had been seared in the shoulder. Moreno took them back to the desk to examine them. Graves turned to the rest of us, "Alright while the doc checks their boo boos I want the rest of you to pick a window and guard it, Ho-ah?"

"Ho-ah!" We all responded with the Armies battle cry as everyone split up to guard their respective windows. Dom and I walked over to the windows up front. As we peered out over the vast area, Sergeant Graves spoke up, "Where's Cho?"

I turned around to find the Sergeant looking over everyone. I did a quick head count and realized we were down one person. "I don't know?" Michelle responded.

"Goddammit," Graves grunted, as he keyed his COM. "Specialist Cho! Do you read me?"

There was a few seconds pause before Cho answered in a hush voice, _"Sergeant Graves is that you?"_

"It is son," Graves reassured the oriental trooper, "Now mind telling me where the hell you are?"

"_I don't know sir," _Cho admitted, _"One moment I'm following you guys down the alley the next I'm separated and on my own." _

Graves sighed, "Alright son, just place a beacon and we will come too you."

"_R- Right sir," _Cho stuttered. Howard, 3rd squads technician specialist spoke up next, "Sir, I have a bead on his position. It is not to far from here. Placing a waypoint now."

Suddenly the blue arrow that was our crash site destination was accompanied by a green arrow. "That's where he is?" Graves asked. Howard nodded.

"Alright Sergeant McAllister you hold things down here," Graves said before turning towards me, "Ramirez and Cromartie you are with me." Michelle quickly came forward, "I would like too accompany too sir."

Graves shook his head, "No Calkins you stay here and defend this building with 3rd Squad. They need you more then we do." Michelle looked crestfallen but reluctantly nodded. Graves turned to Dom and I, "Let's go you two."

Minutes later the three of us were moving down Mombasa's desolate street. Our weapons were constantly on a swivel. "Cromartie, check the tacmap. How far are we from Aaron?"

We came to a halt as my friend accessed the tactical map of the area on his HUD. He pointed over in the direction north of us, "He's less then two klicks in that direction. But it doesn't appear he is moving."

"Well that's not good, "Graves remarked, "Let's hurry." Once again we were moving at a fast pace towards our destination, our squad mate. The sun appeared to be in the same place as it was an hour ago. I checked my HUD clock and saw it was only 1515 hours or 3 o'clock. We had only been in his wretched city for around two hours and already our mission was going FUBAR.

Twice we had to stop and take cover as a Covenant patrol went pass. Once the assortment of aliens and armor went by, we would slip behind them into the shadows.

Ten minutes later we were closing in on Cho's position. We were jogging at a good place, passing the wreck of a jackknifed eighteen wheeler when Dom halted us. He pointed to an alley way, "Cho is moving on the street adjacent to us. If we cut through there then we will probably be able to cut him off." We nodded and slowly proceeded to the edge of the alleyway.

Staff Sergeant Graves walked around the corner and quickly stepped back around as a purple beam flew pass, missing his head by inches, "Son of a bitch!" we stacked up against the wall. He turned to me and said calmly, "Buzzard sniper, on the arch way in the alley. I'll draw his fire." Graves made to get up before turning around again, "Don't miss."

After a three second count my Sergeant got up and sprinted across the open alleyway to the other side. A purple beam from a beam rifle speared the ground near his feet nearly tripping him up. I came around the corner my DMR already sighted on where I assumed the jackal would be and fired once.

My shot flew straight and true. The jackal hadn't even seen what hit it as it was hit right in the head. The odd marksmen headpiece that they wore flew off as the round penetrated the head sending out a spray of blood and brain matter. The jackal fell backwards off of the arch it was using towards the ground. Landing with a sickening crunch.

"That's one buzzard that won't be flying anymore, "I said coolly. Dom patted me on the shoulder and Grave shouted from across the alley, "Good shooting Ramirez." I gave the thumbs up sign.

We moved into the alley slowly, watching out for any more jackals or Covenant ambushes. We walked up to the limp body of the jackal. My DMRs 7.62x51mm round had punched a sizeable hole through the bird like aliens head.

Dom gave the thing a nice kick to the ribs. "Good thing this one was such a horrible sniper."

"Marksman," I corrected, "Jackals may be superior and they're very sneaky, but that doesn't make them excellent snipers _—_they're a little too bloodthirsty for that." Dom nodded in agreement.

Graves turned to us, "Alright Dom, keep this entrance covered. Ramirez and I will move up and try to get to Cho." Dom nodded and headed back to the alley's entrance. Graves and I moved deeper into the alley.

As we approached a corner we heard sounds of plasma firing. I could make out a crack of a M6G magnum firing. As we just got to the corner a trooper came barreling around it slamming into the wall. The trooper was Cho. He fired his magnum at an unseen assailant.

"Cho," I shouted in surprise. He turned towards us and out of fear fired his weapon at us. The rounds pinged off of our armor, and didn't do any damage to us personally though my armor was slightly dented by the magnum rounds.

"Fucking idiot!" Graves shouted moving forward with speed and snatching the weapon out of the young Specialist hands, "You could have killed us!" Cho didn't respond he just pointed down the alley from which he came.

An Elite Major and two minors were giving chase to the young trooper. They had their C-shaped plasma rifles raised and were preparing to fire on us. "Aw shit," Graves muttered, "Run!"

We needed no second bidding. The three of us sprinted back from whence we came. "Cromartie, do you read me?"

"Yeah Sarge," Dom responded, "What's up?" Graves shouted to make himself heard over our screams and the plasma flying pass us, "When I say so I want you too fire on that arch that the Jackal Marksman was on with your grenade launcher."

"Why sir?"

"Just do it!" Graves shouted. We came down pass the area where the arch was. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the dead Jackal as we sprinted under the arch. I could see Dom at the entrance opening, his M319 in his hands ready to fire.

"Now!" Graves roared. Dom fired a single explosive round from the tube in his hands. The round flew proud and true as it impacted the arch we had just passed under. The Elites on the other hand were just passing under the arch.

The grenade round impacted the arch and sent it along with part of the surrounding walls tumbling down on the aliens. They let out one last defiant roar before they were crushed under hundreds of pounds of rubble.

My squad regrouped at the alley entrance. I was breathing heavily from all the sprinting I had been doing. Cho was doing even worst. The Specialist looked like he had been to hell and back.

Graves patted Dom on the back, "Nice work Cromartie. You saved our asses."

Dom nodded, "Just doing my job sir. Looks like those Elites were ready to make you into Trooper Kebabs." I smiled at the crack. Dom always had a way of bringing light to a bad situation.

Graves nodded, "Yessir they were. Now let's get back to the others and then too that crash site." We nodded and then made our way slowly back to the others.

**Author's Note: ** **Alright I know I took two weeks to write this bad boy, but I finally did it. I'm sorry for the long delay. I had Prom and graduation and those kind of took priority over my fic. Any ways keep reading and please please review. I want to know people are reading this and if they aren't I am not sure that I will continue this story as I kind of want to restart my Gears one. **


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: For those of you that don't know, there ****will ****be scenes from many famous war movies and novels that are incorporated in my story. I won't copy directly, but you will see hints and references to them. I don't own Halo Bungie/343 Studios does so yeah enjoy. **

**Chapter Three**

**0210 Hours, October 20, 2552 (Military Calendar/**

**Earth, Sol System (Present Day)**

**Sector 0-5, Old Mombassa**

After reaching back at the motel office we got the two squads on the move again. We moved slowly, as we had wounded, but also because we had ambushed by the Covenant once already. We weren't looking for a repeat.

Like before my squad was moving down one side of the street and McAllister's was moving down the other.

As we moved Knox began to complain, "You know I just don't see the sense in risking the thirteen of us just to save one Spartan and a few marines. The damn Jarheads would not have done the same as us."

Graves smiled and turned to us, "Anyone want to answer that?"

"It's principal," Dom spoke up, "If a comrade is in help then it is our duty to help them." A stifled a laugh, "Comrade? What is this Communist Russia?"

Dom flipped me the bird before going on, "And besides we are better then the leather neck. They might think they are so high and mighty but their casualty rate is a lot higher then ours."

"I'm positive it is because they tend to see more action then us Dom," Michelle spoke up. This slightly surprised me. Before Michelle had never gotten involved when our squad bantered amongst itself. Not only that but she used my nickname for Dominique, before she just went with everyone's last name.

"All I'm _saying_," Knox, whom had started the conversation initially, spoke back up, "Is that we could be used much more resourcefully then some search and rescue op or torch and burn op, whatever. I know the Marines have their own boys in the area, why not send them to get their own?"

"Because the marines are too busy going after that fucking carrier hovering over New Mombassa," I answered, my DMR up on a constant swivel as I scanned the adjacent rooftops, "Us Army _boys_ tend not to go after high valued targets like that. We get garrison and clean up duty."

"Are you guys going to ever stop griping?" graves asked, sounding slightly annoyed.

Dom smiled, "Sir we are soldiers. Griping is what we do." I rolled my eyes at the statement, though it was true. Ever since the dawn of military lower ranking soldiers griped about orders they were given and reasons for it. It was a way for us to get out our steam. It was either that or keeping our steam bottled up until it turned into fragging your superior for bad decision making.

"So Sergeant what about you? You don't gripe at all?" Dom asked as we moved pass the burning wreck of a Wraith Tank.

"I don't gripe to you Cromartie. I'm a Staff Sergeant. Gripes go up not down. I gripe to my superiors and I don't gripe in front of you. You should know that," Graves answered coolly. I saw Michelle and Cho snickering behind me at that one.

Dom shrugged, "Lets say I was a Lieutenant or Captain, what would you say then?"

Graves smiled, "Then in that case I would say that this is an excellent mission _sir_, with an extremely valuable target. One that could change the outcome of the war. Moreover, I'm willing to lay down my life and the lives of my men, especially you Cromartie in order to accomplish it."

"He's good," Michelle said quietly to me. I smiled, "the best."

We moved silent for a few minutes. Constantly scanning the rooftops and every alleyway we came across. The Sun was at one of its highest points and it was bearing down on us pretty damn hard. Despite my armor coming with a built in temperature control system, that compensated for the heat by making my whole body slightly cooler, I was still sweating like a pig.

We walked around the corpses of a few dead civilians. I avoided making contact with their lifeless eyes as we did. Despite my best efforts I couldn't help but look at the eyes of a woman. He blue eyes stared lifelessly up into the sky never to close again. The plasma burns along her chest showcasing her charred breast, explained her death. I held back the vile that was forming in my throat. With a supple gulp I swallowed it back down.

The rest of our march was slightly uneventful. We avoided a pair of Covenant patrols that came close to detecting us, but no dice. We came across a group of sleeping grunts when new were cutting through the lobby of a hotel. A quick knife to each of the little ape like aliens throats was all it took to clear the way.

We finally reached the courtyard. It was a wide open space with multiple buildings forming a rough square shape. Trash, wrecked cars and piles of debris filled many parts of the open space, but what stood out the most was the Pelican that was slammed into the ground. Its tail thrusters lay in a crumpled heap behind it. Smoke was billowing from the downed bird and I didn't see any movement at all.

Graves signaled for everyone to group around and we did. Both squads crowded around the Staff Sergeant as he began to speak, "Alright there's the downed pelican. McAllister I want you and your men to set up shop in the bakery on the northeast corner of the courtyard. It provides excellent defilade fire. My squad will move farther to the Southwest side and we will move onto the Pelicans position. And keep your head down and go easy, watch for snipers." The Irish Sergeant of 3rd Squad nodded and took his men off towards the bakery. Graves waited until they were out of site before turning to us and directing us to move.

We moved from debris to rubble to pillar back to debris. Practically anything could be used as cover. We finally stopped on the southwest side of the courtyard, right in front of what appeared to be a post office. Honestly I couldn't tell due to everything being written in the African script.

"Alright stay here, I'm going to move on the Pelican," Graves said to us. He then looked at me, "Ramirez come with me." I probably had a dumbfound look on my face after he said that because Knox gave me an elbow to the side that got me back to reality, "Ugh yessir…why me?"

"I know Knox is the fastest, but I need your aim when we get to that Pelican just in case snipers try to pick me off."

I sighed but reluctantly nodded. "Alright cover us," Graves said. Without even waiting for the rest to get into cover Graves sprinted off across the open ground. I shook my head and followed after.

We were about halfway to the Pelican when I heard an all too familiar humming noise. Cho confirmed it when he shouted, "Ghost! Coming in from 4 o'clock!"

I looked in the indicated direction and instantly wished I hadn't. Two of the Covenants Type-32 Rapid Assault Vehicles or Ghost to the UNSC flew around the cover. The hover craft noticed the Sarge and I and opened fire. The blue plasma peppered the ground around us creating mini geysers as they did.

"Get some fire on those things goddamit!" Graves roared over the CNM. Lead and tracer rounds impacted on the Ghost side. The assault rifle rounds didn't penetrate the Ghost armor or anything but they did provide a distraction from us. The two Elite minors piloting the rapid assault vehicle turned their attention to the squad.

Suddenly one of oblong grenade rounds from a M319 flew out and impacted on one of the Ghost. A blue flash suddenly surrounded the purple vehicle and the minor driving looked genuinely confused, right before his craft did a nose dive in the ground and tumbled over itself. The minor was thrown clean from it into a nearby wall.

I winced as it smashed into the brick wall. Indigo blood prominent on the tan colored bricks as the Elite fell to the floor dead.

"Nice shooting Cromartie!" Graves shouted over the CNM as we both got to the Pelican.

"Umm, that wasn't me Sarge," Dom responded genuinely confused. Graves and I made eye contact before someone else responded over the CNM, "It was my boys Staff Sergeant." I recognized the Irish Sergeant McAllister anywhere.

The second moved around to the back of the crash site to get a flanking position on us but it was riddled with bullets from a blown out bakery on the far side of the courtyard. I smiled as Sergeant Graves thanked 3rd squad.

As they fired on the Ghost, graves turned to me and told me to cover him while he went in and checked the Pelican. I nodded and raised my gun up. It was a few moments before I heard, "Aw shit" come from within the wrecked dropship.

I assumed he had seen the mangled bodies of the dead crew on board, but that wasn't the case apparently. "Looks like most of the crew is gone. Only the pilots are here and they are KIA."

I turned and walked around to the opening into the loading bay. I looked in and saw that he was right. There were no bodies save for the two dead pilots in the cockpit. Blood was splattered on the windshield. I looked away from the mess and noticed something on the floor, footprints.

"Hello," I said enthusiastically, catching the attention of graves.

"What did you find Ramirez?"

I indicated to the footprints outside the pelican, "Footprints sir. And they appear to be leading away from the dropship. Plus one of them is at least a size 15 or 16. Master Chief I presume."

Graves patted me on the back, "Good job son." I nodded but he didn't notice he had radioed Lieutenant Martinez. I only heard bits and pieces of the conversation as I was busy observing the footprints. So it surprised me when Graves clapped my shoulder to get my attention. He was still on the CNM, but I could tell his conversation was almost done, "Yessir I understand sir. See you then."

"Well sir what's the skinny?" I inquired. I had been fidgety ever since that first ambush we went through. I don't know what it was but I was expecting another one at any moment.

"Well good news is that the whole Regiment was able to repel the Covenants attack," he said with a sarcastic tone to it. I raised an eyebrow, "And the bad news?"

"Is he lieutenant Martinez wants us to hold here until the entire company is able to get here."

I sighed, "When will that be?" Graves looked up at the sky. The sun was starting to fall towards the Eastern half of the sky, "Probably another hour or so."

I muttered something unintelligible under my breath, but Graves wasn't paying attention. Instead he was staring off at something in the distance. I turned and saw that it was a multi story building that looked as if it was still going through construction. There were incomplete levels and there were unpainted furnish.

I had a feeling I knew why the Sarge was looking at the building and I wasn't going to like it at all. He confirmed this when he said, "Ramirez I want you up there to get a bird's eye view of the courtyard and provide cover fire."

"_Alone_ Staff Sergeant?" I cried out, "Don't you think I'm going to be a little exposed?"

He shook his head, "If you want some company I'll get your girlfriend up there to cover your ass." Before I could reply that Michelle wasn't my girlfriend he barked over the CNM for her to get over here.

"Hey Sarge you want to tell us what's going on?" Knox said over the CNM, when he saw Michelle get up and start sprinting for the Pelican.

"Soon Knox, just hold on," Graves responded as Michelle came to a screeching halt in front of him. She threw up a salute and asked, "You called for me Staff Sergeant."

Graves gently grabbed her saluting hand and pushed it down, "First thing is first. Do not salute me in the field like this. If any buzzard snipers are watching they will pick me off in an instant." Michelle looked slightly embarrassed. Her face turned slightly cherry red and a tuft of her bangs slid in front of her eyes effectively covering them. she pushed them out of the way quickly as fast and indiscriminate as she could. Although I had to admit it was kind of cute.

"And second. You are to accompany Corporal Ramirez here up to that building over there as he sets up an OP." She looked over at me; I tried to look like I wasn't paying attention and staring off into the distance, but I couldn't help but make eye contact with her. She looked back at the Sarge and smiled, "I can do that Sarge."

"And please don't fuck up there;" Graves said bluntly, "I don't want you two doing it while we are down here getting raped by the Covenant."

"Aw fuck you Sarge," I muttered flipping him the bird. He just chuckled and proceeded outside of the Pelican back to the squad to inform them of what the El-tee had told him.

That left me and Michelle standing there awkwardly. "Wow," she finally said, "He's straight forward."

"Yeah, don't worry about it; he has a really dark sense of humor," I tried to reassure her. She turned to me and smiled, "Oh don't worry about it. So should we get going?" I nodded and we proceeded to the indicated building from earlier.

As I thought before, it was under construction. There were pieces of wall missing where wires hanged out wildly and plumbing was visible. "This place is ….nice," Michelle remarked sarcastically. I laughed a little at that one. After going up rickety stairs and some very serious wooden catwalks we finally made it to the fourth floor. Multiple steel beams were in place all over this level. This must've been the foundation for this floor.

"Oh my god," Michelle said putting her hand to her mouth, I looked over too where she was and almost heaved up the bile from earlier. Laying there was the lifeless body of a marine sniper. His head rested against the stock of his SRS99, a huge hole going right through his cranium. I could see through the hole to the other side.

I rubbed my chin thoughtfully, "Seems to be the work of a Beam Rifle."

"How do you know?" Michelle asked as I got on my hands and knees to observe the scene more carefully.

"Because the wound is cauterized," I explained pointing to the cauterized meat inside the poor marines head, "He probably never saw the sniper."

"Shit," Michelle muttered quietly. I bent down and ripped off the marines dog tags. E. Ryan they read, "Rest in piece Ryan." I placed the tags in my back pocket and grabbed hold of his sniper and moved from his body.

"What are you doing Ramirez?" Michelle asked giving a last look at the body of Ryan before following me. I moved to a nice window sill and placed the SRS99 on the ground, opening its bi pod to balance it, "This weapon is pretty damn powerful. A few rounds from this baby will knock a freaking wraith tank out."

She looked as if she was about to say something but thought against it and shrugged. I got into a prone position and placed my chin on the rifle. I felt something wet on the chin hold and I looked down to see crimson blood. This didn't affect me in the way you think it would. I simply wiped the blood away and repositioned my chin.

I peered through the scope. It was on 2x magnification so everything seemed really close up. I swiveled the gun until I came to my squads' position. I could make out Dom and Knox talking in hushed tones and I could see Sergeant Graves lighting a smoke.

"Nice," I remarked on the snipers zoom. I know it seemed weird but sharpshooters like me never really get the chance to use sniper rifles like this. We were more content to stay with our DMRs and Battle Rifles. Only a handful of sharpshooters in a battalion would be chosen for candidates to go to Sniper school where they would become battalion snipers. I had been selected once to attend the school but I had failed the stalking portion of the test and after that I had never been chosen again. I was down about it for a little while but I eventually got over and moved on. Now that I had one of these babies under my wing again it felt like I might get a second shot. Who's going to stop me? I am the only one qualified to use such a weapon anyways.

I was so busy fiddling with the sniper rifle that I didn't notice Michelle watching me intently. "You really seem excited about that sniper rifle?"

I jumped a little at her speaking all of a sudden. I blushed a little slightly embarrassed at the way I was treating the weapon, especially since its previous owner was lying dead on the far side of the floor.

"Yeah I guess," I said nonchantly, "As a sharpshooter I don't get to use this SRS99 a lot so it's kind of a big deal when I get to use one." She nodded, pulling out her binoculars and peering through them outside, though I didn't really think she cared.

There was an awkward silence among us for a few minutes before I broke the silence, "So where are you from?"

She looked away from her binoculars, "Wow random question don't you think?"

_Uh oh, red alert, dangerous waters ahead_. I shrugged, "Just trying to make conversation." She smiled, "Well in that case I am from Reach. I was born in Manassas to my lawyer father and my housewife mother. We lived a wonderful life and everything was perfect for me. I was the popular girl in high school and I had a pretty damn GPA. Counselors said I could probably get to Manassas University easily."

I raised an eyebrow to that one, "Then what is a pretty popular smart college bound girl like you doing on the frontlines of the Human-Covenant War? You were on Reach one of the safest places in the universe, second to Earth of course."

She sighed. I could tell that this was a personal topic of hers, "Well it sort of started like this. I was coming home from my Senior Prom with my date, Henry Dave. My friends and I had snuck some alcohol to our prom and Henry had gotten pretty wasted. Anyways Henry had been trying to get me to do it with him for most of Prom and I had said no more times then I could count. While he was driving me home he pulled over suddenly on the side of an abandoned road."

I honestly didn't like where this was going.

"He then…." She continued, "He then pulled out a knife from his dashboard and forced me to strip nude for him. He then raped me Ramirez. Right there and then. He raped me. I tried so hard to escape but he threatened to kill me if I tried to hurt him."

Her eyes were beginning to swell as the memories slowly started coming back, "I screamed as hard as I could but no one came. After he was done he left me on the side of the road naked. I had to walk five miles to the nearest town naked. I told the police, and they said they will look into it." By this point tears were starting to roll down the side of her face.

I raised my gloved hand and wiped the tears away, "It's okay Michelle. Did they ever get him?" She nodded, "Found him two days later in his uncles' basement. But I could care less what they did to that son of bitch. From that point on I knew I had to become stronger. That summer I took kick boxing classes at an all girl's gym. My instructor was a former Army Sergeant. She showed me a pamphlet for the Army and I instantly knew where I was going next."

I nodded, "And your parents were okay with that?" She cracked a small smile, "my parents never knew. I left the next day without saying good bye. They probably think I am lying dead in a gutter somewhere."

Well this girl had a pretty fucked up life, if she just up and left like that. Guess that perfect life she said she originally had didn't actually exist.

She pulled back another part of her bang that had gotten in her eyes, "So what about you Ramirez? What's your story? Did your parents agree to your leaving?"

I looked through my scope. Though I was just thinking about what my dad had said before I left, "No I don't think they really did. Though it doesn't really matter anymore." Before I could elaborate on what I meant the COM buzzed with Graves voice, _"This is Bravo 1-2. We got an enemy Phantom coming in from the Northeast." _

I looked over in the direction and saw the Purple hull of the Phantom Dropship, the Covenants premier dropship, skulking through the larger buildings and towers to our position.

"Roger that Bravo 1-2," I said into the CNM, "Target phantom has been identified." The phantom floated over the Pelican and its grav lift located on its underbelly lit up a powerful blue. Three Elite majors and over a dozen grunts leapt out of the ships underbelly. As soon as they touched the ground Sergeant Graves roared, "Light them up!" and immediately both squads opened up.

Lead flew in every direction as the aliens were caught in crossfire. By the time the Covenant got organized half the grunts and one of the elites were lying dead or dying on the floor.

I personally didn't fire my rifle at all. Mainly due to the fact the sniper only had so much ammo and I wasn't going to waste it on infantry, even if they were Elites. So instead I whipped out my DMR from the magnetic plates on the back of my armor and began popping heads. I took out about three grunts before out of the corner of my eye I noticed movement on one of the many buildings far off.

I rolled out of the way just as a purple beam sliced through the air and pierced the ground where I had been laying only a second before. "Son of a bitch!" I shouted as I recoiled back.

"What the hell?" Michelle asked. She had been laying down suppressive fire with her MA37 when the beam struck. She pulled back from the edge too.

"Jackal Marksman," I explained, "Bastard is probably the same one that got Ryan over there. I'm surprised he stayed in one spot for so long. Usually buzzards are to jumpy and ravenous to do such a thing."

"So what do we do about him?" Michelle asked, wearily peering around the beam she was using for cover. I didn't answer her instead I pulled out the tiny optic cable that was attached to the side of my helmet. The cable could be pulled out and extend to about three feets length while still connected to the helmet. On the end of it was a little camera bulb that transmitted what it saw to a small video window in my helmet. With it one could place the optic around the corner and see what is around there without getting shot.

So in this case I took the cable and pushed it slowly around the corner as not to draw any attention to it. Through the little vid screen I could see the rooftops of many of the buildings surrounding the courtyard. I peered around for a good minute before I spotted the lean form of a Jackal hiding within the shadows of an apartment building located on the far side of the yard. "Gotcha."

I reeled the wire back into my helmet and turned to Michelle, "I know where the buzzard is. On three I want you just too blind fire around the corner." She nodded and held up her weapon. I took one look at what I was going for. The SR.

"Alright," I muttered, "Three!" Without waiting for her to fire I dove for the sniper rifle. Expertly grabbing it in mid barrel roll and stacking up against the wall on the far side. Michelle ducked back around the beam as the buzzard sniper fired on her.

I quickly hefted the rifle and peered at where the marksman was. As I thought he was still there. I didn't even zoom in. I'm not trying to brag or anything but I _no scoped_ the hell outta that son of bitch. I watched as the buzzards head was knocked clear off and purple blood squirted out of his arteries.

"Haha he's down for good," I said as I readjusted the snipers aim. Michelle was smiling, "Nice shot Ramirez!" I put a thumb up, but my attention was instantly needed elsewhere. Turns out more Covenant had joined the fray on the ground and were pouring into the courtyard like a flood. Both squads were in trouble of being over run. And it seems my sniper rifle now had a purpose. A Wraith Tank hovered around the corner. The bulbous tanks of the Covenant were called Wraiths because they usually turned you into one once they fired. The tank fired from its mortar. The giant ball of plasma washed over most of the courtyard bathing everything in a precarious blue light. it impacted on the side of the bakery 3rd squad was holding up in. I winced as the building shook but surprisingly stayed aloft.

"_Shit do we have any anti-armor weapons for that Wraith?" _Graves shouted over the general COM. I hefted the SRS99. "I got a little something for that Wraith Staff Sergeant; just keep the smaller guys off of me."

I took aim through the scope. I could see the Wraith in its full right now. The Elite manning the turret fired on my squads' position. I pulled the trigger once. The gun kicked back as the 14.5x114mm round exited the barrel and found its mark in the Elites chest, effectively ending its life.

I adjusted my aim to where I assumed the driver of the tank would be located. I held my breath to steady my aim and began firing. I chugged round after round at the tank. I went through an entire two cartridges s before the tank finally shut down with its mortar closing in on top of it.

I sighed a breath of relief when it finally did, but that moment of peace was quickly interrupted by someone shouting over the CNM, _"Ramirez, Calkins, you guys have a squad of grunts lead by an Elite Ultra coming right at you."_

"An Ultra!" I said with a little more surprise then I thought. Ultras were like the Majors or Colonels of the Covenant. They were the second highest ranked Elite after the Zealots. For one to be leading a minor squad of grunts was actually an interesting fact, though I assumed the ultra was in command of the entire force attacking the courtyard.

We barely had time to turn around before we heard the squealing of the little simian dog like aliens as they scurried up the stairs. We moved quickly across the planks connecting us to the other side of the floor and stacked up against the walls on either side of the doorway. We could hear the individual footsteps of the grunts as they came up the stairs.

I signaled to Michelle to toss a grenade. She nodded and unclipped one of her M9 fragmentation grenades. She pulled the pin and skipped it around the corner. We both pulled back as the explosion came. It shook much of the building and sent dusk falling from the ceilings. We heard the squeals on pain from the grunts that had been in the blast radius. Michelle peered around the corner and hosed them down with her assault rifle. She went to reload and I took her place at the door side.

I peered around the corner and quickly pulled my head back as green plasma flew by. I fired a few rounds from my DMR to ward off the attackers but my rifles single shot firing didn't do much in terms of suppressive fire. Michelle came back to the front and sprayed the remaining grunts down without so much as flinching. At first I had thought that she was just another cute girl trying to prove she was tough, but at the way she slaughtered those grunts in cold blood I could see she was much more.

Io backed off a little to reload when the wall space between me and Michelle suddenly exploded outwards. I was thrown onto my ass as the Elite Ultra stepped through the now gaping hole, energy sword in hand.

The twin pronged blades of light swayed dangerously close to my face when the Elite came through. The Ultra was clad in silver gray armor. It had a helmet that fully encased its head and as stated before an energy sword in its right hand.

I looked up groggily as the Ultra noticed me and growled. It raised its energy sword to impale me, but suddenly bullets pinged off the back of its head and back. It turned around to see Michelle firing with the last of her assault rifle ammo. With a growl it moved quickly to the female army trooper and sent a vicious backhand across her face.

She actually was thrown back to the floor as the blow was delivered. It raised its sword to strike, but that's when I sprung into action. I yelled, "No!" as I leapt upon the Elites back and tried to pull the Ultras head back wards. It actually seemed to laugh at my futile attempt and grabbed me by the collar of my armor and heaved me against the nearby wall.

I heard my armor crack and my helmet flew off as I made contact with the wall. I looked up through stars to see the Ultra had now turned its attention back on too me. I tried to crawl away but the Elite sent a hard kick to my abdomen area. I cried out in pain as the kick connected. I rolled onto my back holding my stomach, my face contorted in agony.

This was an even worst idea, as the Ultra simply knelt down grabbed me by the chest and heaved me across the room. I nearly slid off the edge of the floor. The Ultra approached me slowly again, savoring every moment, but I would make him pay for it. As the Elite was about to grab hold of me again I whipped out with my right leg and dealt a stunning kick to the back of its left shin. It was forced to its knees by the hit and with that I shoulder charged it to the ground. I whipped out my M6 pistol and fired half a clip into its hand just so it could release its grasp on the energy sword.

It then sent a stunning head butt to my head. Honestly I knew I got a concussion from a hit like that. I stepped back groggily as the Elite leapt to its feet. What appeared to be a energy dagger protruded from its right wrist.

"Ah you got to be shitting me?"

It lunged at me and I dodged back. It leapt at me again, this time aiming for my stomach. I leapt back again, but I felt a pain sear through my stomach. I knew I had been at least nicked. But my adrenaline kicked in and the pain was minuscule as I continued to fight. I unsheathed my own combat knife, I knife I named Sally.

I tried to go for the Elites throat but it sidestepped me and sent a quick punch to the chest. I staggered back but came back just in time to dodge another swipe from the Elite aimed for my head. I caught a chop from the Elite and tried to swipe at its throat again with my knife but came up with nothing but air.

The Elite used the leverage of me holding onto its arm to grab hold of me and toss me against another near by beam. This time adrenaline didn't help me and I felt a few ribs probably crack from that impact. I let out a cry of pain as the Elite began to charge for me.

I felt around for Sally but came up with something else, The Elites deactivated energy sword. A small grin came across my face, but instantly disappeared when I realized I couldn't activate it and the Elite was closing in fast. So I did the next best thing I could do. I chucked it at the Elite.

Surprisingly this actually worked and the sword hilt struck the Ultra on the head sending it off its balance and knocking it down. With the last of my energy I leapt atop it in a hope to get it in a choke hold but this was in vain. The Elite quickly recovered and grabbed me by the throat. It lifted me up over its head. It now had its energy sword back and activated. The thing seemed to laugh as it held me tight by the throat threatening to squeeze out every last breath I had. Although I didn't think it would matter seeing as it was going to skewer me with its sword soon anyways.

I braced my eyes waiting for the end. But the end never came. I opened them again to see the Elite seemingly talking to itself. That's when I realized it was talking on its own version of a COM. It seemed to be arguing with someone on the other end. It made a growling noise took one last look at me and then dropped me on the floor. I let out a cry of pain from the drop.

The Elite stepped back and I was genuinely confused. The ceiling suddenly erupted into flame and I had to cover myself from the falling debris. I was genuinely confused as the Elite stepped under the hole and a gravity lift suddenly enveloped it and lifted it up. I realized that was the doing of a Phantom dropship.

The Elite disappeared and I could here the whine of the dropships engines grow fainter as it left. I picked myself up. This was no easy task after getting your ass handed to you by an Elite. I clutched my possibly cracked ribs and limped my way over to the still form of Michelle.

As I got near her she began to stir and come too. "What happened?" she groggily asked. I laughed, "You got knocked out by an Elite." She looked up at me and gasped, "Ramirez you looked like hammered shit."

I guess I did look like hammered shit. My armor was cracked in several places and I had coagulated blood all over me. "Well that's what happens when you go 15 rounds with an Elite."

She raised an eyebrow and picked herself up, "Did you win?"

"Does it look like I won?" I retorted smartly. She shrugged, "You are still alive aren't you."

I nodded and went to pick up my fallen DMR, "Point taken. It was weird; the ultra was going to finish me off when it suddenly stopped. It seemed like its leaders wanted it somewhere more important and it spared me."

"Weird," Michelle muttered, "Maybe Sergeant Graves would know something about it." I nodded and we made our way back downstairs and outside.

Outside, the two squads had congregated around the pelican. As we approached Dom looked over at me and pointed out I look like hammered shit.

"Yeah, yeah," I responded waving him off. I turned to Graves, "Sir something weird went down an Eli…."

"You're telling me," The Sarge cut me off, "One moment the covenant are slamming us with everything they got. The next they just up and suddenly fall back."

That was weird. The Covenant never retreated. Especially if they were winning a battle, which they usually were, "Why did you think they did it sir?"

"Because they got couldn't take the fact humanity was kicking their asses," Knox yelled out to no one in particular. Ignoring him I turned to Graves to get an answer, "I'm not sure corporal, but I'm getting reports that all over the city other units are facing the same thing. Covenant forces just up rooting and falling back. Never seen anything like it."

I nodded in agreement. Suddenly my stomach hurt a lot. And I don't mean like stomach ache hurt I mean like searing pain. The adrenaline was wearing off and I was beginning to feel all the bumps and bruises that Elite gave me, but the pain in my stomach was the most prominent and painful.

I removed my hands from my abdomen and was surprised to see a fresh coat of glistening crimson blood splashed on them. I looked down and pushed my armor slightly up. This was pretty damn painful as well.

I was surprised to see that my torso area was cut open. I could see blood and other bile pouring out of the gaping wound. I could actually _see_ my intestines. Dom looked over and saw my wound and I saw his eyes go as big as saucers.

I looked up at him and said, "Well damn."

The last thing I remember was Dom yelling for a medic and a loud whooshing noise in the background. If I wasn't mistaken it sounded like a slip space portal being opened. In the city? No way


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four **

**(**_**Present Day)**_

"Wait a second," Paul interrupted Connor, "Let me get this straight so you _actually _got into a brawl with an Elite and came out alive?"

"Brawl is an over statement," Connor smirked shaking his head. He took another sip of the beer he had gotten from the fridge while telling his story. "It wasn't a brawl more of me getting the biggest ass kicking of my life. That Elite pretty much half beat to death. I was lucky to survive."

Connor put his beer down and pulled up his white t-shirt to reveal a thin line scar along his abdomen right below the belly button. "This is where that Elites goddamn Energy Sword nicked me. Even though it nicked me it still cut me open like a cold cut."

Paul smiled, "An ample metaphor. Good thing the UNSC has some of the best doctors humanity has ever seen. Plus with technology you could practically replace any organ in your body with a clone."

Connor nodded. He picked back up his beer and began drinking again. The phone began to ring and Paul heard Christian pick it up. After a few moments the 15 year old walked into the room, "Dad. Mom's on the phone."

Connor nodded and turned Paul, "Wife probably wants to know what she should get for dinner." Connor got up to leave but turned around before leaving the room, "Imma get another beer, you want one?"

Paul nodded. Connor left and Paul looked down at the notes he had written so far. So far he had Connor's account of the battle of Mombassa. It differed greatly from Chips Dubbo and his account. But then again Dubbo was in New Mombassa and Connor was in Old Mombassa. Also seems the Elites hadn't done the ole _switchero _yet. He also could see since Ramirez was injured he probably hadn't jumped ship with the _In Amber Clad _to Installation 05. He hadn't really had any stories or information on what happened in Africa in the month period after the fall of Mombassa. This probably would be his best chance at filling that in.

Once he got that and finished with Ramirez's interview he would get his book up and running and get it published. Hopefully with the money he makes from the book he could get promoted in his damn job. He had been a journalist for three fucking years. His boss was reluctant to promote him because he felt he hadn't matured enough. Well his boss could go fuck herself. The bitch would see how mature he was when he all of a sudden had a book out. Heck he was doing this right under her nose too. He couldn't wait to se her face when he came into work the day after his book is published with his face all over the holo vids.

Paul's thought of showing up his boss was interrupted when Connor came back. In his hands were two beers. He offered one too Paul, "Just got off the phone with the wife." He took a seat popped open his beer and took a sip. Paul followed suit.

"As I thought," Connor smirked, "She wanted to know what to get for dinner. Hope you like pizza; she's going to get some from Pizza Tepee."

Paul smiled, "I haven't had pizza from Pizza Tepee since I was a kid. I just never had the time too go get some." Connor took another sip of his beer, "Then you are in luck. But until then let me try to finish my story."

Paul nodded, "Well after sustaining injuries like that from an Elite, I'm sure you had to be taken to a field hospital. I know that Mombassa was too dangerous to have a hospital set up. So where did they take you?"

Connor placed his beer down on the table with a little more force then needed. Some of the liquid gold spilled out onto the white table cloth. Connor looked up at Paul and shook his head, "They took me and the 69th to an even bigger hellhole then Mombassa. They took us to Nairobi."

1**700 Hours, November 3, 2552 (Military Calendar/**

**Earth, Sol System (Present Day)**

**Nairobi, Kenya**

I hated field hospitals. They were probably the worst thing about getting wounded, besides the wound itself of course. It was just the claustrophobia factor of it all. Being stuck on a tiny cot with dozens probably hundreds of other wounded people around you. Many of them are moaning and groaning from their wounds. It was a very depressing and miserable place. So you can kind of see why I was more then elated to be getting the hell out of there and back to the frontlines. Ha, the irony in wanting to go back to fighting the Covenant.

I sat atop my cot waiting anxiously for the Battalion Surgeon to come and clear more for duty. Right now all I was in was my tan military with the word **Army **inscribed across it, my khaki cargo pants and my combat boots. I had to have my BDU's removed after that fight with the Elite. The armor covered up most of the wound.

I winced a little bit at the mention of my wound. When I had fought….err I mean lets get real, when that Elite beat the living shit out of me, he had sliced my lower abdomen wide open. I hadn't noticed it because my armor was covering it up at the time and adrenaline was running through me. I had fainted shortly afterwards and found myself in a field hospital in Nairobi which wasn't too far away from Mombasa.

And it is here that I have been staying for the last two weeks, though I was on anticipative so I was knocked out for the first week basically. I had too have my large intestine cloned too replaced my ruptured old one. The Medical staff here had stitched me right back up after that, but advised I stayed here for a few extra days so as not too aggravate the injury. And so it is here I waited.

I had learned of what had happened in Mombasa after I had blacked out, from eavesdropping on a few conversations of some of the wounded that came in the days following me. Turns out that noise I heard right before blacking out was _actually_ ship entering slip space within the city. Seems that Assault Carrier that was hovering over New Mombasa opened up a slip space rift in the middle of the city and jumped through it. The resulting shockwave damaged much of the city, but the infrastructure stayed in tact. Well most of it anyways. The Mombasa Orbital Elevator collapsed shortly after the ship jumped. That was one of the oldest space elevators on Earth and one of the first ever built. That was going to be a bitch to rebuild.

Also seems the UNSC Frigate _In Amber Clad, _captained by Lieutenant Commander Miranda Keyesfollowed the carrier through the portal. She only had a handful of marines and ODST's onboard, and the Master Chief, who turned out to be completely okay and was partially responsible for the injury I received. But enough of my ranting. Either that was the bravest or stupidest thing anyone could've done.

In a way I feel like she was just trying to live up to her father's name. The late Captain Jacob Keyes was renowned throughout the UNSC navy as one of the best naval officers ever to command a ship. Probably second only to that of Admiral Preston Cole. Sadly after the Battle of Reach Keyes along with his ship _The Pillar of Autumn, _disappeared with all hands thought to be lost in the resulting escape.

None the less his legacy lived on in his daughter Miranda, who I might add is actually pretty damn attractive. But she is too brash, way more then that of her father.

My mind wandered a lot as I waited more for that damn doctor.

What was the Covenant doing in Mombasa anyways? I heard that the initial fleet consisted of only around a dozen ships. Most of them were wiped out in orbit by our Orbital Defense platforms. Only that Carrier was able to jump through and it chose Mombasa. Also I heard from a Marine Captain that had come through to check up on his wounded that in the aftermath of the slip space accident, the military was able to capture a few of the Covenants Elites. Word was that the Elites hadn't expected so many humans too be here. It's like they didn't know Earth was our home world.

One of the Elites had said that their fleet had been hastily assembled and sent here to excavate the land around what was Mombasa. He had said that they were being led by some form of religious leader, the Prophet of Regret. I bet they regret following him now, no pun intended.

Mombasa had been fought heavily over, but it didn't really matter because by the end of the day we ended up losing the city to the Covenant when more of their reinforcements arrived on the planet. They had beaten back any form of Marine or Army resistance left in the city.

I had heard that other continents like America had been hit. An entire Covenant occupation force in Manhattan, New York had been routed after a week of hard fighting for the city. And in Cleveland Ohio shit had really hit the fan there as well. Covenant was popping up all over the globe, Asia, Europe and a large force of it in the Ukraine. But the majority of their numbers were in Africa.

Africa was now crawling with Covenant forces. Most of the continent belonged to them. Most forces were far and scattered. In fact I heard that the 69th regiment, along with elements of the 9th Armored, and 210th Artillery Battalion all of us located in Nairobi, were probably the strongest amount of UNSC forces left in Africa. That probably means the majority of the Covvies forces were going to be looking our way real soon and they probably already have.

My in my head monologue was interrupted when finally Major Gregg Gochnour came strolling up to my cot. "Corporal Connor Ramirez," he said out loud looking over some papers that were on his clip board.

"The one and only Doc," I replied. Gochnour was probably in his late forties early fifties. He had gray hair and icy cold eyes. He was pretty attractive for his age and he had a swag about him that made him seem younger. Just like that psychiatrist back in Camp Cole, he had been given the rank of Major mainly so he outranked his patients that usually came in here wounded.

He looked over some more papers then looked up at me, "Well you seem healthy enough. How do you feel son?" I flexed my biceps, "Feel good as new Doc, your boys really helped me. I'll just get out of your guys way then and return to my unit."

I made to get up but Gochnour pushed me back down with one hand. He was strong for an elderly man, "Not yet you aren't. First show me that scar." A little fed up with having to wait so goddamn long I took my entire shirt off exposing my whole upper body.

"Nice tats," he remarked about my two tattoos. One of them was the word **UNS**Cwith the logo of the eagle atop a globe under it. This was on my right pectoral. The other was a Chinese letter that read energy, which was located on my upper right arm.

Gochnour bent down and examined my stitched wound. After a through look he stood back up and wrote something on his clip board, "Alright Corporal it seems you are cleared to go. Just put your thumb on the red spot of this data pad and you should be good to get your stuff."

I did as told and put my thumb on the red square on the data pad he offered out. The red square turned green signaling that I was good too go. I shook the doctors' hand and proceeded out of the stuffy field hospital into the open autumn air. Though it was like 76 degrees out so it was still pretty damn hot. I made my way over to the armory where I was able to retrieve my precious DMR along with a new set of BDU's. My old armor had gotten trashed during my scuffle and was unusable. I was surprised that they had spares at this point in the war.

I snapped on all the parts of my tan BDU's and then placed my helmet atop my head. I said farewell to the armoire and proceeded outside to the nearby motor pool. Due to the fact my unit was probably all the way on the edge of the city I was given a M274 Mongoose ATV to get there.

I hopped onto the ATV's large seat and started the ignition. After a pop and a groan the small vehicle came to life. I placed my DMR on the magnetic strips on my back, revved the engine of the Mongoose and I was gone down the nearest boulevard towards the southern part of the city, where I knew my Battalion was located.

Nairobi was one large city. Mind you, not as large as Mombasa but it was up there. At one point in its lifetime it was actually the capital of Kenya and many people still consider such but since Mombasa's build up from a small port city to an industrial giant it has sort of taken a back seat on the swing of things.

It also seemed like it was a century behind. Of course there were much technology from this era, such as automatic road blocks, holographic vids and its famous Mag Lev train station, which was one of the first rail roads of its type through Kenya. But most of the buildings looked like they belonged in the 21st or 22nd century. They just weren't elegant enough.

I passed by the Regimental HQ, where Colonel Sharper and his posse were heading up operations for the whole city. I turned down another road, leaving the City Square and began speeding down its adjacent partner. I pushed the Mongoose to its top speed of almost 60 miles per hour though I was making sure not to hit any troopers or other personnel that were making their way down the street. Regardless I still got a mouthful of swearing and birds being flipped at me from a couple close calls.

I could hear explosions and fighting in the background. Not very far off, towards the west, probably around the Nairobi Hills. I don't know which battalion was out there but looks like they were getting hit hard.

I turned down another avenue and began gunning it southbound again. I started to notice that there were no civilians at all in the city. Most were probably evacuated when the Covenant really started to bound Mombasa and threatened to come here too.

The sun was beginning to descend westward in the sky, causing a shadows to be cast about the city by the taller skyscrapers and buildings. The street lights started to wink on one by one as I passed them. I was surprised there was still power within the city.

I passed over a large bridge that passed over Nairobi's train yards. It was a sight too be hold. It must've been at least a dozen mag train lines all next to one another. In between each line was a platform where passengers could debark upon. There were also a handful of train tracks for the cargo trains that usually frequented through here on their way to Uganda. Now it was barren and empty, besides a few train cars that had been abandoned virtually nothing was on it.

I went on pass it and crossed into the residential district of this area. Most of the houses looked alike. A one story home with a small yard. There were a few stores located here and on top of them I could make out apartments where the owners of the store probably slept. Mnay of the stores looked as if they were broken into. Looters probably got into them when the city was being evacuated.

I also noticed many of the buildings around here had been hit by plasma bombardment. Covenant must've been shelling the city regularly from the safety of the Savannah.

As I got farther south I could make out a convoy of Komodo Tanks making a beeline westward. They were really gunning it in that direction. _They were in a hurry, _I thought to myself.

I started seeing SAM sites popping up here and there as I went. Some were on top of buildings others concealed under trees. I wondered why they were here when I saw the reason.

A platoon from the 210th Artillery Battalion had set up shop here in this area. Their M2089 Self Propelled Artillery pieces or Ballista's, named after the ancient Roman missile weapon sat ready to rain hell down upon any Covenant that threatened to overrun this sector. I smiled knowing that my Battalion was getting the best artillery the UNSC had too offer covering it. Though I was sure the rest of the 210th was covering both 1st and 2nd Battalion as well.

I slowed down as I passed the some of the artillerist. I hollered to the nearest one, "Nice piece." I motioned to the Ballista behind him. Its elongated barrel probably had a good range of twenty miles but it was probably so close to the front as to get the most accurate shots possible.

The artillerist I shouted too, a sandy haired PFC nodded, "Yeah she is. Can drop a 155 mm 'bout 30km out." I nodded admiring the weapon. I got so caught up looking at it that I almost forgot to ask my question, "Hey do you guys by any chance no where 3rd Battalion HQ is?"

The PFC smiled and pointed down the road running across the one I was currently on, "Just head west on that street there and you'll run into it in no time." I said my thanks and revved the engine. The Mongoose gunned down the street and I banked a hard left making the ATV's left two wheels actually come up off the ground before they slammed back down as I readjusted myself.

I saw the HQ shortly after and slowed the ATV down. I came too a complete stop and hopped off. A runner was coming outside of the HQ, which had once been a bar. I offered the runner my Mongoose and he accepted it. I slung by DMR over my shoulder and walked into the pub.

As HQ's always go, this one was packed and busy. Runners were coming and going in a hurry. Radio operators were screaming into COM's. And it was just a general amount of chaos. I spotted Major Wright, my Battalion commander. He was in his mid forties and had a horse shoe mustache. He kind of looked like a red neck, but he had the respect of every man in the Battalion.

I began making my way over too him but realized that there was no way I was going to be able to speak with him. It looked like he and his general staff were having a disagreement.

I heard him say something about 2nd Battalion and needing those tanks, but that's all I got out of it. Luckily another person walked into the HQ at that exact time. Captain Mactavish strolled in through the double doors of the pub and spotted me. I met him half way and saluted. He waved his hand, "No need for formalities Ramirez."

I laughed a little, "Sorry sir." I had forgotten that Mactavish was one of those laid back commanders who usually didn't like all the formalities of being a leader. Mactavish was of Scottish decent, though he had long since lost the accent. He was pretty young at the age of twenty six to be leading an entire company, but as I mentioned before he had earned it.

"Sir. Hope you don't mind me asking but where's Golf Company?"

He smiled, "Well of course you need to know where your Company is."

He motioned to the door, "The entire is dug in along a huge six mile long line on the southern tip of the city. Just go south and you will probably run into Golf. We are on the side farthest west."

I nodded, thanked the Captain and headed on my way out the doors. I made my way southward. At this point the road sort of began dirt roads and the houses began to thin out. It was after a good fifteen minute walk that I came upon our line. Mactavish hadn't been joking, this was a huge line.

It was beginning to get dark but I could make out individual foxholes with troopers held up in them. I walked up to the nearest one and was surprised to find PFC Thai. Thai was a good friend of mine and he was also part of 1st platoon's 4th squad so I knew I had to be close to my squad.

"Hey Thai, where's 2nd squad?" I said to him. He and his foxhole mate, a nice woman by the name of Cobalt, both jumped at the sudden presence of a third person behind them. Thai turned and shook his head, "Jesus Ramirez, do you want to get your head shot off sneaking up behind us like that."

I had too stop myself from laughing, "Sorry about that bud, you know where my squad is?" He pointed to some holes that were farther down the line, "Probably one of those holes over there. You shouldn't sneak up on people _amigo_ Jesus." I took note of him stressing the amigo part. I was going to have to kick his ass later because of that, but right now I just wanted to reunite with my squad.

I walked along the foxholes taking care not to accidentally fall into any of them, which would be embarrassing. I passed by Gunnery Sergeant Harken and his Heavy weapons squad. The Gunny was personally sleeping on his fifty caliber machine gun.

I passed Sergeant Graves hole and gave him a nod. He spotted me and returned the nod. Cho and Knox were also in his hole but both were snoozing. The Sarge was probably on watch. I went to the hole one over and spotted my friend Dominique Cromartie trying desperately to fill a sand bag full of the dirt around him.

I chuckled too myself and slipped into the hole as silently as possible, "Looks like you need a hand." Dom jumped at my presence. He whirled around, "Well ain't you the luckiest son of a bitch." We clasped hands and gave each other a "man hug".

"You know me," I bragged flexing my biceps, "Hard as a rock, and tough as nails."

Dom shook his head, "Hard as a rock. Boy you were cut open like a gutted fish, Thought you were a goner when you collapsed." I smiled, "So nice of you too care."

He handed me the half full sandbag and began piling in dirt to fill it, "Oh I cared, but you should've saw Calkins. She was nearly brought to tears and she wanted to visit you while you were in the hospital."

"Yeah nice job doing that," I said sarcastically.

Dom slammed into the ground with his entrenching tool and grunted as he spoke again, "Hey we tried, but as soon as we got here, they had the whole Battalion put on the line. Be like this for two weeks."

We finished with the current bag we were holding and I slammed it on top of the trio of bags already full and prepped up on the lip of the foxhole facing out into the savannah. Dom handed me the shovel and this time he held the bag. As I broke even with the ground I turned to him, "How's holding the line been?"

"It was quiet for literally the first week," he explained as I filled in more dirt, "Then the Elites came at us. At first it was a lot of small stuff. Little trench raid type deals. The occasional shelling and then full attack. We repelled them all but we lost quite a few good soldiers. It's been quiet for the last few days though."

It suddenly occurred to me that Michelle wasn't present in either hole of my squads, "Where's Michelle! God please say she didn't get hit."

Dom shook his head, "Calm down she's okay. I sent her to get more ammo for my grenade launcher." I raised an eye brow, "Why didn't you get it yourself?"

Dom smirked, "We played rock paper scissors to see who had too make the long walk to the supply dump and she lost."

I smiled. Dom was always a good con artist and really good at rock paper scissors. I know the game is by chance but he had a knack for winning. I only beat him once and it didn't matter because I lost the next two rounds. Something tells me he let me win that first round too.

"I'm kind of blown that you lived," the grenadier explained, "If you had bit the bucket then Calkins would've definitely needed a shoulder to cry on. And I would've been right there for her too. She has a pretty nice ass."

It was good too know my friend cared so much for my well being isn't it. I shoved him playfully and was about to sock him in the jaw when a third person came into our hole. Michelle was caring a large crate full of grenades. The crate was obscuring her face and in turn her view of what was in front of her. I was surprised she had been able to walk over here without tripping over someone's foxhole.

"You know what? Next time Dom you get your own goddamn grenades. I think you cheated at rock, paper scissors you little son of…." She stopped abruptly when she saw me. Without warning she lunged at me and gave me the tightest hug I had ever gotten. I winced at the pain of my wound being pressed up against her waist, "Ouch watch the injury."

She recoiled with a shocked look on her face, "Oh I'm sorry. I'm just so happy too see you Ramirez. After what happened in Mombasa I thought you were a goner." I shook my head, "Takes more then some Elite Ultra to kill me."

Dom gave me a look and shook his head. We finished with the sandbag we were currently on and sat down. I noticed Michelle was sitting awfully close too me. Like literally on my lap. Dom took out a smoke and lit one. He exhaled and I saw the nice cloud of nicotine fly into the air making a nice ring.

"Nice," I remarked. I then brought up something that was bugging me, "So I heard a whole lot of action is going on in the west. Also saw a convoy of tanks gunning it over that way."

Dom nodded, "Yeah that would be Delta Company of the 9th Armored. They were over here with us, but I hear from Captain Mactavish and Martinez that 2nd and 3rd Battalions are getting hit hard over on the west side near the Nairobi Hills."

"Think any of that is going to be coming our way?" Michelle asked.

Dom puffed out another ring of smoke, "Oh you can bet it will. I hear we will probably start getting hit again in the morning. So sleep well because it might be your last night."

I rolled my eyes, "Way too optimistic." But my complaint had fallen on deaf ears. Dom was sound asleep. I don't know how he did it but he always fell asleep really fast. I stared up at the stars.

"They're so pretty aren't they?" this was from Michelle. She was staring up at them as well. She was resting her head on my shoulders. Well helmet technically but that didn't matter right now.

"Yeah pretty…just like you," I replied smoothly. She giggled, "Stop Connor you are making me blush." It was now a perfect time to say what has always been on my mind, "Michelle I just wanted to say…"

Her head felt slightly heavier and I heard her breathing differently. I looked over and saw she too had fallen asleep. She leaned more on me and tried to get comfortable. I wrapped my arm around her and smiled. I looked up at the sky again.

"If this is my last night. At least I'm spending it with the only family I have left."

**Author's Note: ****So I was able to get another chapter out in under a week. Now don't get excited, this was just because I haven't had anything to do really since Saturday and thought I would work on some of my fanfics. Sorry for virtually no action in this one, but hey not every chapter is going to have some. Anyways keep reading and please review. **


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: As always, I do not own Bungie and I want to give a big shout out to TheAmateur for finishing his story ****From Harvest to the Ark****. I know it was a lot of writing bro, but you did it. **

**Chapter Five**

**0922 Hours, November 4, 2552 (Military Calendar/**

**Earth, Sol System **

Nairobi, Kenya

"Alright which one of you assholes wants to see me in ninety nine?" Dom asked, all while keeping his cigarette firmly in his mouth. Our fox hole had a few more occupants then it usually did. Knox and Cho had come over from there hole next to ours and Specialist Desman Smith and Private Theodore Vossler, both from 5th Squad, had joined us.

We were good friends with Smith and Vossler. They had originally been part of our squad months ago, but they volunteered to form a makeshift squad on Sigma Octanus IV, when many squads had been completely decimated. We had been one of the lucky ones to stay almost at full capacity.

"I'll take you up on that offer," Smith replied. Vossler and Knox nodded in agreement. Dom turned to me, "Hey Connor and Calkins you in or you out." I looked up at him with a mouthful of noodles. A couple strands were still hanging out. I slurped them in and swallowed them up before replying.

"Nah I think I'll just watch this round." Michelle looked at me and nodded, "I think I'll actually move in on this." She slid closer to Dom to get her cards. Any other day I would of took that as a hint that she wasn't trying to be singled out with me, but after last night I knew she was just filling in for me.

Last night had been one of the most memorable and best nights of my life. Well every night you survived in this war was a good one, but last night was special. I don't know what it really was but I felt I was a lot closer to Michelle and it felt great.

Their game of ninety nine began in earnest. There was friendly banter between the players and I think Michelle actually won the first round but I wasn't paying attention. I was busier looking out over the savannah for any signs of the Covenant.

The sun was a nice glowing sphere in the sky. The savannah looked very desolate and dry. I could see waves a heat as I stared out over the barren landscape. We had placed barbed wire and Bouncing Betty land mines about 100 yards in front of our position. It was empty, besides the small amount of foliage and the occasional destroyed Covenant Ghost there was absolutely nothing out there. The absence of animals was most peculiar. I hadn't seen a single beast out there since I got here yesterday. Dom had said it was because they knew that battle was prominent and going to happen again, like it had multiple times before in the two week span they were here. Knox had said it was because there were buzzard marksmen out there and they were not only hunting us but they were devouring whatever animal they came across. I didn't know which story to believe, but I did know that everyone was saying they feared an attack on our lines today; the 2nd Battalion was hammered yesterday. Causalities were ranging well into the hundreds. This with the knowledge we were going to be hit, made extra vigilant. Even so I could help but over hear Desman as he went on about Mombasa.

"So we repelled the Covenant from the bazaar in Old Mombasa," Desman told them while he placed his next card down, "but then we had freaking Grunt and Jackal stragglers hidden within the buildings surrounding the goddamn market. They were a bitch to get out of there."

"Yeah," Knox nodded his head in agreement, "M.O.U.T. Battles can be the worst."

Cho looked up from the MRE he was chowing down on, "What's an M.O.U.T. Battle."

"Military operations on urban terrain," Knox explained, "Close quarters battles within cities that take some getting used to. You are probably no farther then 10 yards away from your enemy at anytime." Cho nodded and went back to eating his food.

I sat there and turned to stare at my trusty DMR, this baby had been with me through thick and thin and I loved her too death. Now don't get me wrong I wasn't getting a hard on for it or anything, but without this weapon I would've been dead months ago.

I began to disassemble the weapon. Didn't want her jamming up on me in the heat of battle. I whipped out my oil rag and began cleaning each individual part. After that I began to reassemble the weapon. I had just put the final piece, the optic, back on when I heard a familiar whooshing noise.

I looked up just in time to spot a Wraith tanks mortar slam into the ground in front of 3rd platoon's position. "Mortar fire! Incoming!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as I dove back into my fox hole. The card game abruptly ended and everyone ran back to their respective holes. I ducked down as low as I can, huddling with Dom and Michelle. All along the line Army troopers were doing the same thing in their holes.

The plasma mortars really started slamming into our position. One of the worst parts of fighting the Covenant, besides the obvious fighting them part, was the plasma bombardments. It was just the feeling of being helpless. All you could really do was cower in any cover you could find and wait out the barrage of super heated concentrated plasma coming at you. All the while hoping you just weren't hit, because if you were you were done.

So the bombardment continued for another minute or so and just like that abruptly stopped, as if someone simply turned a switch. That's when the screams for medics began to pipe up. I knew those men and women with the asklepian on their helmets would have their work cut out for them. Us combat troops however had a bigger problem to address. The thousand grunts coming at our line was one of them. Now it wasn't like they were all coming right at my fox hole. But they were spread out over the whole six mile long line that 3rd Battalion was holding. And it wasn't just grunts but a scattering of Jackals and even a few Hunter pairs here and there. Oh Hunters were a problem, but I would get to them later.

Right now my main focus _was_ the few dozen grunts that were coming in my fox holes general area. No one fired yet but everyone was getting ready. I dozens of rifles of all types coking as people got there sights set and what not. Me personally I got the correct distance to the target. I sighted on a particular large grunt in green armor wielding fuel rod cannon. Those things were like the covvies version of the RPG, except they shot green plasma bolts.

Still no one fired and for good reason. The first grunt walked near the closet bouncing Betty. A black oblong cylinder object flew up out of the ground and detonated at about head level of the grunt. It exploded vaporizing the grunt and a couple of his comrades around him. All along the line similar things were happening. The aliens hadn't realized we had placed mines on the ground and walked right into our mine field. But to our surprise they just kept coming. I know Grunts were the cannon fodder of the Covenant, but this was crazy. They were literally throwing away their lives in droves just to clear a path.

"All units open fire!" This was Captain Mactavish. He must've been on the line as well. I centered on the fuel rod grunt I had been watching and fired. My first shot must've gone wide because the grunt just kept coming forward. It dropped to one knee and prepared to fire its weapon.

I never gave it a chance. Another three shots from my DMR put it down for good. I swiveled my aim to a nearby Jackal that was advancing steadily behind its fluorescent shield. I aimed for the small opening aperture on the side. One shot caused the Jackal to clutch its side resulting in it revealing most of its body. The next shot put the buzzard down for good.

"Cover me. I'm reloading," I said to Dominique, who nodded and began to fire in controlled burst with his MA37. Michelle was also firing with her assault rifle into the approaching covenant.

By this time the Covenant had begun firing back. Plasma filled the air as we fired. I was genuinely surprised no one in my squad had been hit. I couldn't say the same for other people. I actually saw a medic eat a plasma bolt to the face as he ran to help a poor trooper who had his leg blown off. I looked away from the grisly scene and put in a fresh clip and rejoined the fight. By chance I sighted in on the same spot where I had killed the first grunt heavy. Another grunt, this one smaller, was attempting to heave to weapon onto his shoulders to get a shot off. It was actually kind of comical watching the grunt trying to fire off the weapon. I never gave it the chance however as I put two rounds right into the cranium of the poor bastard and he fell over dead. I kind of felt sorry for the little guys. Despite them being basically the Covenants lowest rank and species they had a lot of heart and bravery for fighting, knowing full well they were probably going to die. It was either that or they were too frightened of their Elite overseers to protest. Regardless of what compelled them to act I know I was compelled to stop them.

The battle raged for another half hour. Despite us taking a small amount of losses this was basically a turkey shoot. The covvies didn't even get pass our barb wire. After what seemed like years but had in reality been only thirty minutes the remaining hundred or so Grunts fell back. Many were killed as they reran across the minefield but the majority escaped. I sat back down in my fox hole and breathed a sigh of relief. I took off my helmet and wiped away sweat from my brow. It was a good 65 degrees right now in Nairobi and add on all the armor I was wearing it might as well been 90 degrees.

Dom slumped down next to me, "What a fight. Bastards hadn't come at us like that for a good while." I stared up at my friend, "Yeah, but I feel that was just the icing on the cake."

Michelle who had been counting her ammo raised an eyebrow, "What are you talking about Connor?" I looked up over the rim of the fox hole at the battlefield. Dead grunts were every where. Bits and pieces and multi colored blood were everywhere. Many of them were stuck within the barb wire. It was a mess. While our dead and wounded were removed, the Covenants dead and wounded will just be left as they were to rot in the African heat.

"This attack was too damn random," I explained, "They had no focus or plan of attack and not one Elite was present. No this was just a test of our defenses I feel later today or even tomorrow we will be hit full force, just like the 2nd was yesterday."

Dom nodded, "Yeah I getcha young blood."

He reached into his pockets and produced a pack of cigarettes. He took one out and placed it in his mouth. He lit it with his Zippo and inhaled. He pulled it out and offered it to me. I took it and puffed in a smoke. As I smoked Dom picked up the deck of cards and turned to me with a smile on his face.

"But until then….who wants to continue the game."

**Author's Note****: Okay I know that I haven't updated for a long ass time. Honestly I have just been really lazy. There is no other excuse for it. I just basically would get on my computer and get ready to write and then I would be distracted by a funny video on youtube or one of my friends would text me saying we were going to chill someplace later. I mean look at my disclaimer, that was back when Harvest to Ark was just finished like a month ago. I wrote like the first half of this chapter then and never got around to finishing it. But do not worry I am back in the swing of things and I am doing predominately better battling any nagging feelings of guilt I have about this story. Anyways thanks for reading and please leave a review. **


	7. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:**** Okay let me explain what had happened. My old computer that usually I would write on decided it was going to overheat and stop working. So for about a month I was out of the writing business until my grandmother got me an early birthday present. A laptop. So I am back but I am also at college so I won't be updating every week but don't fear my fellow fans I am not dead. Also since I haven't been writing that much my writing kind of took a plummet but I should be back on track by next chapter. **

**Chapter Six**

**0740 Hours, November 6, 2552 (Military Calendar/**

**Earth, Sol System **

Nairobi, Kenya

An Army marches on its stomachs. It has been attributed to Napoleon; the idea that an army marches on its stomach. It has been said that, and rightly so, that logistics is the long pole in the tent. Military campaigns are made or broken on the amount of filled bellies one side has. The UNSC was the same. If they didn't feed us we wouldn't be able to function properly to fight the Covenant. I mean don't get me wrong, we were trained to be able to live on limited rations and put out effort for days at hand, but we still needed substantial food every now and again. That's why I was currently standing in a chow line behind the frontlines. There were a lot of Army troops from my battalion here; the ones that weren't on early morning sentry duty anyways. Dom was with me as well but he was currently too busy chatting up some Army PFC girl behind us.

Cromartie had always been a flirt and I have usually accepted that, but it could get annoying when he tended to flirt with every women you meet. I was frankly surprised that he hadn't really flirted with Michelle yet. I guess he knew I had a serious crush on her and was abiding the guy code.

_An Army marches on its stomach. _

The thought came to me again. Supplies were all important for any army, if you were cut off from supplies you were, in theory, cut off from your ammunition, food, fuel, and basically your life line. For Napoleon fighting the French it must've been tough doing that in 1800's. Here in 2552 however, humanity as a whole was fighting a collation of genocidal aliens bent on wiping humanity from existence. So if any of Napoleons soldiers were complaining about fighting a long war in France against the French, they could honestly go screw themselves because we were in a 30 year long war and we were losing. But at last I'm just complaining.

As the line towards the food tents gradually moved forward my mind began to wander again. I thought did the Covenant have to eat. I mean they weren't robots; they were living organisms so it would have to eat something.

I had heard once that Grunts ate from a large tub of whatever grub they ate through a food nipple. A food nipple? That was probably the stupidest thing I have ever heard but then again grunts were pretty stupid themselves.

It was the Elites that I wondered what they ate. It was probably some fancy delicacy type food they ate behind their own lines. What did hunters eat? Those things were practically a large colony of worms mashed together.

Any further thought into the subject ended when Dom came back to talk to me.

"What's up Connor?" he asked all chillingly. I gave him a raised eye brow look, "Nothing, I'm just standing in the same spot I was before you left to go flirt with that girl. How'd that go anyways?"

"Oh that. Yeah no, found out she's a lesbian."

"Ouch," I said patting my friend on the shoulder pads. He nodded, "Yeah, so when are you and Michelle going to hook up?"

Now it was my turn to be questioned, "I don't know Cromartie. After all this is over." Dom shook his head, "You both might not be alive by the time all this is over."

Dom and I have had this conversation many times before. And it always ended the same usually with me just ignoring the facts he put forward. But this time I couldn't help but realize he was correct. Michelle or I might be killed tomorrow or next week. Hell, a plasma bombardment could suddenly happen and hit the chow area, killing me here. I hoped I hadn't jinxed myself by saying that.

Luckily any further conversation was nullified by the arrival of Knox coming from the front of the line. He had a tray full of food. I actually found myself salivating at the sight of the beans, steak, bacon, and mash potatoes on his tray.

"Foods looking good today boys," he said taking a piece of bacon and sucking it in like a vacuum. I gave him a look of disgust. Cromartie grabbed some of the bacon and devoured it as well.

Knox motioned over to the front of the line, "Best hope that all the good stuff isn't gone by the time you get up there." With that he laughed as he walked back to the frontlines. Cromartie shook his head, "that guy really pisses me off sometimes." I shook my head, "You and me both."

As Knox predicted all the good food was gone by the time we got to the front. Where there had been trays of glorious food now stood the leftovers and scraps. Also greeting us at the front entrance of the mess tent was a pearly white skull of a grunt. Its slightly elongated head had barren eye sockets and a hole where its mouth would be. A sign under it read "This Gas Sucker here didn't have his daily helping of fruit and look what happened to him- Eat your Fruit!"

I shook my head at that. They were treating us like little kids telling us to eat our fruit. We were grown adults; we chose what we wanted to eat. I got what arguably the best left, which wasn't saying a lot seeing as how everything left looked like shit, but it is was what it was. I got what appeared to be corn beef, some soggy toast and some eggs. I got some extra corn beef and eggs for Michelle. She was currently back at the frontline on sentry duty.

I waited for Dom to finish trying to swindle the cook out of some fresh fruit before both us headed back to the front. "You get your fresh fruit?" I inquired.

Dom shook his head, "No. old bastard said we had to ration our food supplies. Just a bunch of bullshit if you ask me."

"True that," I said taking a forkful of corn beef. I instantly spit it out and stared down at my mess. There were maggots in the corn beef. Fucking maggots! "Screw this shit." I threw the corn/maggots beef away and just kept the eggs and toast.

"Think I just lost my appetite," Dom said throwing his food out as well. It was 2552, why the hell couldn't we get processed food in the Army? I had a good mind to go back and yell at the cook, but I knew at this point it was pointless.

Dom and I preceded back our frontlines. Well it looked a lot different than it did when I arrived here two nights ago. After the first attack by the Covenant two days ago Battalion HQ had the entire Battalion turn the miles long fox hole line into an entrenched line. It was two days of painstaking digging and to top that off it had rained hard once while we were working and the Covenant were bombarding us with plasma and sending raids at our trenches. It was a pain in the ass but we finally finished after almost a day and a half. Now we just had to sit and play the waiting game. This was easier said than done, as the calm before the storm was always the most grueling part of any attack. Not knowing when the enemy was going to strike could turn a man into an alcoholic.

We found our spot in the trench. It was relatively in the same spot as our foxhole was, but instead of a single hole it was now a long trench six feet deep. The land in front of and around the trench was littered with chassis of vehicles and bodies of decaying Covenant aliens. Mortar holes dotted the landscape like some sort of decoration. The occasional Jackal marksmen could be sprinting between all the junk looking for a good opportunity to snipe any troopers they could. This is why we were ordered to keep our heads down for fear of getting our lives snipped out.

I peered down into the ditch to see a still form curled up in the fetal position at the bottom. I couldn't help but smile at how cute she looked as she slept peacefully. Sadly that peacefulness was going to end.

I turned to Dom and smiled. He caught on and smiled back. We both slid as quietly into the trench as we could. I placed the tray off food next to her and leaned forward a bit. I motioned to her legs and Dom gently grabbed her. To our left a pair of Army troops from another squad gave us looks as we played our plan out. Knox and Cho glanced over from their spot and snickered to themselves. I counted to three in my head then screamed, "Michelle! Get up an Elite is above bought to kill you!"

At that point Dom grabbed her legs and started grunting like an Elite. What happened next was slightly unexpected. Michelle proceeded to sock me in the jaw, effectively knocking me on my ass. She then whipped her M6 out and aimed it at Dom's head, "Dominique Cromartie, please let go of my leg before I blow your head off."

Dom abruptly put his hands up in surrender. Knox and Cho walked over laughing their asses off, "Yo Ramirez you just got beat." I got up off my ass rubbing my sore jaw, "Yeah I did. What the hell Michelle? How'd you know?"

Michelle picked up the plate of food I brought her and examined it carefully, "This is what they were serving at the mess. I would rather pass." She tossed the plate away. Part of the food fell in a puddle of mud that had formed during the storm, making for an awful mess. Michelle helped me up and smiled, "You two assholes need to learn to be quieter when you move around. I could hear you guys as soon as you entered the trench."

Dom shook his head, "I don't know how the fu-" Dominique never finished his sentence. We all heard an all too familiar whooshing noise. "Get down!" Someone yelled. They didn't need to tell me twice. I was already crouched down as low as I could get in the icy bottom of the trench by the time the first mortar slammed onto the ground. More mortars slammed down all around us.

Like before our own artillery answered back shooting their own load across into the savannah. I slightly felt bad for the covies. Sure their artillery made a bigger boom and it was still deadly, but when hit with a plasma mortar it was instant vaporization. No one never felt the pain it was just death. But our own artillery was lethal. Not only did it blow up similarly to the covenants, but it also caused a helluva lot of shrapnel and dismembered limbs.

I heard a familiar whine. It was like a dozen women screaming at once. I instantly recognized the sound of multiple banshees flying near. The Covenants premier fliers screamed over our position. A few of them let their payloads drop down on the trench line, but we weren't their main focus. Their main focus was to neutralize our artillery within the city. I hoped those SAM sites I saw a few days ago were prepared to handle those banshees.

The enemy bombardment slowly subsided and then their infantry came. This was a helluva lot more than any previous attack that had bestowed us. The sight that greeted us was an unwelcomed one. Coming at our entire Battalions line was a plethora of Covenant species ranging from grunts, jackals to Hunters. Also joining the attack were dozens of aliens I had only seen a handful of times before. Brutes.

Brutes were probably the most hideous things I have ever set eyes on. If a gorilla and a rhinoceros were to mate and have offspring, a brute would probably be what the offspring were like. They had gray skin like an elephant or rhino, but they had hair all around them. Like the Elites they came in ranks and usually led the lesser species of the Covenant.

Speaking of Elites there seemed to be a lack of them on the battlefield today. In fact there wasn't one Elite in the horde in front of us. I wonder what had happened to them, although it was extremely rare to ever see Brutes and Elites fighting in the same front or on the same planet for that reason. But it was still weird. I hadn't seen one Elite since that Ultra almost diced me to pieces back in Mombasa over two weeks ago.

Well right now I couldn't focus on that topic. My undivided attention would need to be on the immediate threat in front of us. I unslung my DMR off my back and cocked the gun cartridge back. All around me my squad mates and other members of the battalion were doing the same.

"Notice there no Elites," Michelle pointed out, confirming my earlier thoughts.

"Yeah, I was thinking the same," I added, "What do you think happened to them." Everyone just shrugged.

"Here they come," Someone shouted out. And coming they were. The main force stopped. An advance wave came forward consisting of mainly grunts and jackals with a dusting of Brutes here and there. As they charged forward they were joined by ghost and big ugly vehicles I had never seen before. The vehicles kind of looked like JOTUN tractors but a lot more deadly. They looked as if they were exclusively piloted by Brutes.

"Shit those gray things are Choppers," a nearby Lieutenant explained out loud to no one in particular, "They are like the Brutes version of a ghost except they can be used like goddamn battering rams."

"That isn't good for our life expectancy," Knox joked. I saw a worried expression on Cho's face after Knox said that. I gave him a thumb up. Cho seemed to calm slightly after that.

I turned my attention back to the approaching horde. This would of made any grown man cringe including me. There was no official open fire call. One of the machine gun crews somewhere along the lines opened up dropping a pair of grunts in one quick burst. You could say that's the shot that as heard around the world because that's when all hell broke loose. The charging vehicles opened up. Heated plasma and what appeared to be super-heated spiker rounds flew into our line. Many troopers dropped under the opening salvo. Luckily none of my squad did. We returned fire dropping many of the forward runners and I even managed to knock a grunt its vehicle mid stride causing the abandoned vehicle to swerve into one of those choppers. Too my surprise the chopper simply ran through the ghost.

Our rocket jockeys began to open up. The troopers carrying the M41 SSR locked onto the moving vehicles, which was no easy feat, and fired their 102m HE rounds. The missiles flew forward and slammed into the chassis of the vehicles sending them up in flames of bright glowing blue and fiery flames.

I couldn't help but let out a whoop of surprise, but that instantly stopped and I found myself ducking as a salvo of spikes pass me. Our fire fight with the advance force continued in earnest. We wouldn't give an inch but neither would the covenant. They were charging us in droves. This seemed like another suicide charge by the grunts, but I knew it was either them attacking us or them getting killed by their leaders if they returned.

I emptied the remaining of my clip into a jackal and bent down to reload. Michelle was also down reloading. She turned to me and said, "This is fun, eh?" I smile and nodded.

I went back up to see the second wave was coming in earnest. These Brutes were big and dozens of them charging all at once was a pretty damn scary sight. A shadow passed over me and I looked up in time to see a trio of Longsword Bombers pass over. The large triangle shaped bombers flew at near supersonic speeds so I was barely able to catch a glimpse of the bombers before they let their payload go and zoomed of before they got shot down.

The explosion from their bombs was a brilliant flash of light that was nearly blinding. Cheers and whoops could be heard from everyone. But when the smoke cleared all those smiling faces instantly turned to frowns. The bombs had killed a lot of them but there were still a lot standing.

At this point the battle turned into complete chaos. Bullets, plasma and spikes filled the air like a swarm of angry bees. Left and right bodies dropped on both sides. In the trench many of the puddles of rain water and mud had turned into pools of crimson blood. There were so many dead bodies out in no man's land that many of the covenant were using their own brethren as walls of cover.

I aimed in on this one blue armored Brute. It had a helmet that reminded me of a Japanese Samurai's helmet. I assumed that it was some sort of leader caste. I fired three times my first two shots hit it directly in the helmet but there was a flash that I recognized as energy shields. My third shot took its helmet off. At this point I saw my opening and fired twice into its exposed head. I saw a geyser of red-blue blood and the leader fell back.

Now killing that particular Brute had been a mistake. I hadn't known about the Brutes pack mentality at the time. I hadn't know that if their leader was killed the lesser Brutes would enact revenge upon its killer or that they would go berserk. Hell, the grunts usually threw their hands up and ran around screaming and crying. So you see why I didn't think that one completely through.

So that particular brute had three lesser brutes accompanying it. I watched as they watched their leader fall down. They turned back to our line and looked like they were staring right at me. I let out a quiet, "Ah shit."

The trio of brute minors seemed to revert to their beast stage as they charged me on all fours. They abandoned their weapons and roared at the top of their lungs as they charged recklessly forward. I sighted on the nearest one and fired twice. The shots hit the brute in the shoulder and chest but it kept coming. I aimed for its head and only then did it drop down dead when I fired. I aimed at the others and was able to drop one of the others before I ran out of ammo. At this point I realized I was royally screwed. The others were too busy fighting their own battles to notice the single brute about to beat their squad mate to a pulp. I struggled to grab my pistol out and was just able to get it out, but it was too late. The brute made a leap at me just as I got the pistol up. I know this was probably not the smartest idea, but I closed my eyes.

I mean if a thousand pound alien was about to lunge at you I rather not see it as the last thing I ever saw. There was a roar and then a loud boom that nearly deafened me. I opened one eye and saw the brute lying on the floor dead, half its face blown away. I looked over to my right to see Sergeant Graves standing there with a smoking shotgun.

"Thanks sergeant," I said feebly. Cut me some slack I almost died. He simply nodded and turned back to the battle. The battle continued on well into the afternoon. We held back onslaught after onslaught of Covenant species of all different kinds. Though Elites decided not to show their face.

It was tiring and as soon as it was over I sat down and rested my head against the back wall of the trench and fell into a slumber. I awoke a couple hours later to Dom prodding me with the butt of his rifle.

"What do you want?" I said angrily. He threw down a plate of food, "Got some grub for you and don't worry I checked for maggots and I didn't find any….i think."

I just realized how hungry I was. Fighting for most of the day on limited food under the hot sun could make a man very hungry. I took the food and thanked my friend. He sat down next to me and we both looked at each other and just laughed. He patted me on the back almost making me choke.

"Connor my man, that shit was intense and I'm surprised we both got through that alive," Dom said giving another chuckle. I nodded, "Aye comrade that was crazy I think next time we should keep co…."

Suddenly the ground shook. "What was that?"

I shrugged. It shook again and a few seconds later it shook again. I looked down at one of the puddles in the trench and saw the still water ripple every time the ground shook. It suddenly began to dawn on me, "There footsteps."

Dom gave me a look of confusion. Knox, Cho, Sergeant Graves and Michelle all came over. "What the fuck is that?" Knox asked. I could tell everyone was confused like me.

"Oh no," was all Sergeant Graves said, "Scarabs."

I gave him a quizzical look. Then the thought came to me as well. Scarabs. And as if just to confirm it one of the battalion snipers who was probably held up in one of the taller buildings on the outskirts of the town reported in through the CNM, _"This is Sniper 2-5 Actual. We got four incoming Scarabs about to hit the Echo line I repeat four incoming Scarabs coming right at Echo."_

Shit. Scarabs were a problem. Scarabs were the Covenants super power weapon on the ground. They were probably the Covenants most powerful weapon besides their ships. The colossal walkers sported a purple exterior and four massive legs. It resembled a large insectoid in a way. All in all it was what infantrymen feared the most.

I risked a peek above the sandbags and instantly regretted it. As stated before four scarabs were making a beeline towards our line. They seemed to be targeting the center of the line. The part of the line my company was manning. Below the massive attack platforms dozens of grunts, jackals and brutes moved under the monstrous legs, looking as if they were hungering for human blood.

"_Prepare to hold the line!"_ This was Captain MacTavish. He was probably manning the line just like us lower ranked troopers. Bless his heart. I reloaded my DMR ready to hold out as did all my squad mates and the rest of the battalion. I sighted through the scope on the aliens moving on the ground. I felt a surge of excitement as I pressed the trigger. My shot took off the top of a grunts head, but my shot was lost in the noise of everyone else firing. Covenant dropped all over but the Platforms kept coming.

I was sighting in on a Brute minor what sounded like a lion roaring. I looked up and saw one of the Scarabs farthest left charging up its beam. With a loud noise that sounded like lighting cracking. A beam of green plasma spewed from its "mouth".

"Holy shit! There goes our left flank," Dom called out. I turned to the east and saw Fox Company falling back. They were literally falling over one another as they retreated back towards the city. The part of the line they formerly occupied was now basically glass.

I turned back to the Scarabs and my blood nearly ran cold. Two of the center most Scarabs were charging up their beams as well.

"_Fall back!" _MacTavish screamed over the CNM. He didn't have to tell me twice. I was already out of the trench and was helping Michelle out as well. Dom hopped out as well and the three of us started sprinting back towards Nairobi. All around us other members of the 3rd Battalion were doing the same. Up ahead of us Graves, Knox and Cho was sprinting as fast as they could, but I soon lost them in the flood of humans. Not everyone was able to make it back. Many troopers sadly met their end by being shot in the back by the advancing Covenant. Plasma and spikes found their marks. I had never ran so fast in my life. My legs were like pistons. I found myself subconsciously holding Michelle's hand and pulling her along. If I had been going any faster I might've pulled her arm out of the socket. A brilliant blue flash flew pass my face causing me to duck.

When we were approaching the actual city itself we were met with a relieving sight. Half a dozen Komodo Main Battle Tanks greeted us. Accompanying them were around a dozen warthogs that zipped off when we were near out onto the battle field. They were too distract the covies while we retreated. When we were passing the tanks they opened fire. The loud shells nearly deafened me but I kept going with Michelle in tow. A few medical warthogs greeted us along with medical personnel. At least someone in HQ had their head screwed on straight.

I breathed a sigh of relief as our battalion slowly got reorganized. We weren't going to make any suicidal charges to reclaim back our lost line anytime soon, no we would probably hold up within the city to slow them down. Hopefully the other battalions would regroup with us and the whole 69th would make a push back to reclaim Nairobi.

I looked up to the sky. It was night time and I saw a storm was approaching in the distance. I looked over towards the city, smoke plumes dotted the horizon. Colonel Sharper had our respective companies gather up and we moved into the city. These next couple days would be a testament to our strength.


End file.
